Broken Dreams
by Mira Nova 23
Summary: Rapunzel and Eugene have just saved each other and defeated Gothel. Can they make their shared New Dream come true? When Rapunzel reveals she is the Lost Princess, what does that mean for Eugene? What does that mean for the Kingdom of Corona? What about... them? Movie continuation, from first kiss. Explicit. ACTIVE.
1. Chapter 1: Tangled vs The Balcony

**A/N:** Hi, excuse me, two seconds here. I don't like _explaining_ myself *in A/Ns*. So author's notes will be brief if at all. Go find me on tumblr, as MiraNova23. But this is plotted to be a long, many long chaptered story, with a definitive end already decided. Just wanted to give a heads up that I know where I'm going. Fear not the make-out inner-monologues starting us off, the rest is normal novel style. Okay. You got it? Alright, we're gonna move ahead. Sorry to slow you down.

* * *

 _If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost;_

 _that is where they should be._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Tangled vs The Balcony**

" _You were my new dream..."_

" _And you were mine."_

This was clearly Rapunzel's first kiss. Just like a tenderfoot, she had merely pressed her puckered lips against his. Perhaps more like _smashed_ , as she had gripped Eugene's collar to propel them both towards impact. He had been shocked, but by no means displeased. It was yet another chance to hold her close; another chance to teach her something he prided himself on. Their prayers had just been answered by a miracle, and now they would have many, many more chances from here on out. Another chance at life.

Eugene brought his hand up to the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her fresh cut, but still silky tresses. He had to guide her, they both knew, and both relished it. With an ever so slight tilt of pressure, he showed her how to position her lips to interlock with his, as he took over. She was eager to kiss her new dream? Well, he was eager to show her how it's done. Immediately, he eased it into a deep, sensual French kiss. His lips knowingly turned to seal over hers, as his tongue parted them and expertly sucked hers out with all the fervor she had initially grabbed him with. He could deny her nothing. He wanted to hold nothing from her. She wanted him? He was happy to give her it all.

Rapunzel startled herself at her own uncontainable excitement. She had pushed them into this before she really knew what she was doing. She had barely been able to acknowledge to herself that his chest had not re-risen for far too long and that his heart had fully stopped; now she could barely comprehend his vitality again. Now she was bouncing on a cloud, both their hearts beating faster, and wondering why it had taken two days, or even one, to kiss. The shock of their lips making forbidden contact was electric, but the real fire started when he so gently took control, as she graciously melted.

What was this new world she had unlocked? She had never before dreamed of such a way to kiss. She may have dreamed that touching another person would feel somewhat exciting, but not like this! This was even more breathtaking -literally- than the entire day of the festival the day before. The forest, the pub, the town, the rowboat; they were all amazing to finally experience. But experiencing another _person,_ like this? Her hand gripped his arm, trying to remember that this was real.

There was no telling how long this first 'kiss' actually lasted, but it felt like an eternity that still was not long enough. Both hung suspended in disbelief. Rapunzel remained kneeling beside Eugene, tugging on his collar and shoulder as if he would not stay grounded otherwise. He, however, was not even bothering to move from what would eventually become a strained sitting position, leaning back on his shackled arm with his legs straight out. Yet he also held his hand on her firmly, as if she were his only lifeline to stay in this world, lest he fall back to that cold darkness.

Eugene's mind, on the other hand, was racing. This amazing girl- no, woman- whom he had fallen for _hard_ , had just saved his life. Brought him back to life, actually. How? He didn't care. He was alive again and in her arms. There was probably some form of residual magic or something leftover, or whatever. The pain from his side that had engulfed him was not only completely gone, but he had never felt so rejuvenated. Of course, the adrenaline probably helped.

 _Love..._ He knew that was it. Why he was so worried about her all night. Why he was so frantic to get back here today. Why he had stopped her from throwing her life away by healing him. Why he was in ecstasy now, despite nothing more than their lips playing. Love had kept his heart pounding all night, all day- til it had stopped, still all for her. Again now, though, his heart was pounding in his throat as her tongue braved fumbling explorations.

 _I love her..._ The actual words finally materialized for him, as the jumbles of thoughts sorted themselves out. He had certainly not _wanted_ to die; had not wanted to be pulled away from her. But even in his last moments, those actual words had eluded him, though they were just clouded by thoughts of only _her._ Yet he had needed to convey exactly what he was feeling, since that was thought to be their last moment. 'You were my new dream.' It was true. That had said it perfectly with the last of his willpower, and he was content enough. But now there was all the time in the world. What was after this? What did the future- what did _their_ future hold?

 _I KNEW he liked me!_ She remained focus on every point that was touching. It simply had to mean he really did like her. And what did that mean? What did any of this mean for her?

 _Forever..._ Maybe not literally forever; then again, maybe so with her magic. Even better! But how would that work, what did that mean? To love her forever?

 _Moth- "Mother" is gone. I can do anything I want now, but,_ what _am I going to do now? What is he- what could WE do? I hope he stays with me, somehow..._ The possibilities seemed endless! But at very least, she would certainly rather enjoy living in the tower with Eugene, of course with many frequent trips out to see the whole world.

 _I just want to love her forever... to..._ To marry her. _MARRY?!_ Part of him jumped in fear for a split second. Another part chalked it up to excitement at the roll she just tried with her tongue. Flynn Rider was infamous not only for stealing, but also for stealing hearts from ladies, bedding merchants' wives as well as- _other_ \- merchants' daughters. Any idea of fear quickly washed away. Again, maybe because she had finally figured out how to breathe efficiently, while still pulling _him_ into _her_ now. But he knew; the mere thought of her was what overwhelmed him. His arm buckled a bit. _T-to be with her forever- To run away with her, somewhere, far from here. Build a new life together. Find a home together. Do honest work. Make her happy. What an adventure... Yes, to marry her..._ His hand squeezed her a little tighter, squeezing them a little closer.

 _What am I thinking! I'm so dumb- ugh- I'm the Lost Princess!_ She grinned a little, but quickly returned her lips to where they were. _So I wonder what me being the princess means... What does it mean for Eugene?_

But how to ask her to marry him? Simply, for their simple life-to-be. _Just, 'Will you marry me,' will do._ She loved him as he was; he didn't need anything else. Except... _Not with my hand still shackled._ And maybe... _Not spring it on her all at once now._ Too many things had just happened. _Let's settle down from this, get our heads together, then, I'll ask her to leave here with me. We'll be safe from the guards here, but she can't possibly want to stay in this tower any longer..._

He pulled away from her long enough to quip, "Hmm, so I'm alive, right?" but he stole another quick peck. "Or maybe this is just heaven." The look smeared across his bedroom eyes was priceless.

The cheesy line made her giggle, before pulling him back in.

Eugene pulled away again and readjusted the shackled arm he was propped up on. "I'm serious though." Finally opening his eyes fully and looking at her immediately distracted him from his previous ideas. The first morning sun rays were shining through her hair, illuminating her from behind with a golden halo of light. Smiling softly, he ran his free hand through her new haircut. "It looks gorgeous," he breathed. "What do you think?" 

She sat back and both hands flew to play with the new short lengths, also distracted now. "You think so? I don't even know what it looks like yet." Her hands smoothed the strands back and down along her head, only to have them quickly spring back up. "It feels weird, but, like, kinda cool," and added as she squeezed her arms together in front of her chest, "I mean, I guess..." But she was still too busy beaming about their victory to truly be upset about losing the companion, and tool, that was her hair.

Eugene took the opportunity of her distraction to sit up properly and lean back against the banister. He also took the opportunity to openly gape at this remarkable being, now cutely playing with her new hair. From his new perspective, he gazed around the room. 69 feet of now dead brown hair lay strewn about the floor. Shattered glass was scattered everywhere, and the window was still gaping wide open, welcoming in the fuzzy sunlight announcing the glorious new day. Ironic, that window had just let death out.

"I honestly didn't know it would do all that to her," Eugene confessed solemnly. "I just didn't want her to- to just _use_ you like that."

Whether Eugene realized it or not, she was surprisingly unaffected by her 'mother' just having fallen to her death. She was finally gone, it was finally over, _Thank the Goddess!_ , and that's all there was to that. "You could have at least waited til after I healed _you_ with it, though," she shoved his arm, trying to lightheartedly chide him, but it was no use as she turned solemn, too. "You really were already-... I thought I'd already lost you forever..."

He held her gaze until it was painful, to see her pain again. He just looked down and shook his head. "I'm sorry I-..." _I'm sorry for dying on you, for everything..._ "I just, couldn't think of anything else... I didn't want to just _use_ you like she was going to, and I didn't want you to feel stuck with that promise you made." He bit his lip, and looked her up and down, and over again. "Rapunzel, um," he risked reaching out to grasp her waist. She only flinched and smiled a little at the tickle he caused. One stroke there, and he moved his hand to rubbing the small of her back. "Rapunzel." His voice strained and his brow furrowed deeply. "They didn't _hurt_ you, did they? Did they, _touch_ you? At all?"

"They?" she asked, confused. _It was just moth- oh._

"The-"

"Oh!" It dawned on her. "Those two..." _What had she called them? She was right about those two at least..._ "Those two brutes?" she pouted.

Eugene winced. "Just tell me, please."

"No," her pout dissolved. "No, they didn't hurt me. One just brushed my hair, but otherwise," she shrugged, shaking her head as she looked down and away.

Eugene sighed in relief. _Oh thank God..._

She was staring blankly at the bloody gash in his vest. "Hey." He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear with his shackled right hand, hoping to both block her view of the old wound, and get her attention back on his face. It did. "You're okay. I'm okay now. Everything turned out for the best." He smiled.

She sighed and smiled back at him, then reached up to hold his hand there against her cheek. It was warm again. She winced, remembering how it had just been turning ice cold minutes before. As she went to run her hand down to his forearm, though, she felt something else cold. "Oh," she grabbed the shackle on his wrist, "What are we going to do about this?"

"Don't worry," he said as he pulled it back to inspect it, only he was looking at the lock part of it. "Lost my lock pick last night, obviously, somehow." The guards would be too stupid to know where he kept them, but the guards weren't the ones handling him while he was unconscious. He searched his hems and pockets all night in the prison cell, but they were gone. "But anyway, this should be easy enough with a hair pin or something. Could you...?" He looked to her, almost sorry for asking for anything.

"Oh, of course!" She grinned and bounced up. "Um, I do actually have some now. Be right back!" She bounded up the stairs as fast as she could to her bedroom, and grabbed the little basket full of flower hair pins from the night before. She bounded down the stairs just as fast, and presented the basket on Eugene's lap. "Here ya go."

He jolted a bit at her jerky running, since the emergency was over. "Oh, nice, you still have these." He plucked one out and set to work biting it into a particular curve. He couldn't help but smile though, remembering how stunning she had looked with her hair done up like that last night.

She watched him intently, thinking the same. "I was thinking I wanna try to braid my hair up like that again sometime- I mean, but..." She looked down, as she wrung her hands together and her smile faded. "It's okay," she mumbled, "I'm sorry, nevermind..."

Eugene stopped and studied her for a moment. "Hey," he nudged his chin out to get her attention. "Rapunzel." She looked to him and when her smile returned, so did his. "Everything _is_ okay now," he nodded. She was able to breathe easy once again. He went back to picking the lock.

 _Oh Eugene, there's still so many things I need to ask you..._

"Besides," he said with a second pin sticking out of his mouth, "I said I think it looks gorgeous. Maybe even better than before. The color's great-" The lock finally popped, and he took the pin out of his mouth and motioned with it like a pipe. "That's my opinion at least." He looked back to her, trying to reassure her with his smile. She was fragile about what he thought seemed like strange things to be fragile about, but he supposed it made sense that her hair was one of them. "Um," he glanced at the tipped-over and shattered mirror again. "Why don't you- um, you have another mirror in your bedroom?" The shackle fell to the floor as he massaged his wrist, which was a nice relief finally, but he was newly concerned after asking about her bedroom.

"Yeah, uh..." she chuckled, "I didn't even look when I was just in there..." She seemed a bit concerned about it, too.

He decided to just push on. "C'mon. Let's go have a look." He got up, which was surprisingly easy without any bodily injuries anymore. She hesitated, but he took her hand gently and lifted her up. "Lead the way." He snatched up Pascal as well. "Hey there, lil guy. You okay too? That's good."

Rapunzel giggled, with a little excitement that surprised even herself. Something was pulling at her- uncertainty, at least. She brushed it off easily enough, chalking it up to her lingering questions. Still, she cautiously dropped his hand as she reached for the banister, but nonetheless lead him up to her bedroom. She brushed through the curtain, passing it off to Eugene behind her.

Eugene held the curtain back, but stopped in the doorway, trying to be polite. Any other time he had been in a girl's bedroom had been for naughty reasons. Without knowing how to properly conduct himself otherwise, the doorway felt safe. He wanted _her_ to feel safe. After all, she had a lot to process. She had been overjoyed sharing in the ecstasy of their kiss earlier, but since then had started to seem rather shaken. _No condition to be sweeping her off her feet right now..._ Pascal scampered down and headed over towards the vanity.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slowly moved to where she knew she would be standing in front of her vanity's mirror.

"It would help if you opened your eyes," Eugene chuckled.

She wrinkled her eyebrows even worse, but slowly parted her eyelids.

"See?" He leaned against the door frame, pinning the open curtain behind his body, and crossed his arms. "Gorgeous..." he sighed, beaming as he gazed upon her once more. He didn't notice how raspy his voice came out. _Something so earthy about brunette hair..._ Then again, he knew he'd love her with any color, or length; it made no difference to him.

"Oh..." Her expression fell. Her chest fell. Her arms hung limp. She was locked on her reflection, but wanted to disappear.

"Rapunzel?" He snapped to the reality of her reaction.

She closed her eyes again and hung her head.

"Rapunzel..." His bedroom misgivings fell to the wayside as he stepped right up to her side and took her shoulders from behind. "What's wrong?" His entire face gaped open, watching her just about to ugly-cry in the mirror. _So cute...!_ "Buh- Rapunzel," _calling her 'Blondie' is probably not allowed anymore._ "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I cut it." _Great, now she hates her hair_ and _me._ He urged her to turn around to face him, and gently lifted her chin. "Um, 'Baby?' 'Darling?' 'Dear?' 'Sweetie?'" She wouldn't lift her chin. "Ah, 'Princess?'" Instead, she just covered her face with her hands. He fell to one knee, so he could look up to get in her sight, and gripped her wrists. "Rapunzel," he said almost sternly.

She started at his tone, and with that, let him move her hands away. She opened her eyes to see his worried ones. Finally, she exhaled a long breath.

"I'm sorry." He put his palm to her cheek, his other hand still holding hers. "I thought it would be for the best. I'm so sorry. I know you've been through a lot _with_ that hair, but now you're free- and _you,_ are not one to cry just about something like looks. You're stronger than that, I know. Do you think you could tell me _why_ you're so upset about it? It's okay- only if you can."

"Muh-" Her voice quivered and broke off. "Gothel." She choked and swallowed the '-el' sound so Eugene could barely make out the name.

"Gothel?" he questioned. "That was her name?"

"Uh-huh," she sniffled. "She..." Rapunzel reduced her voice to a whisper to be able to get anything out. "She already said I looked too plain and, _unimpressive_ , and... And now..." She managed to squeak only at the end. _Now, how could you still like me?_

"Oh, Rapunzel," Eugene sighed, wiping her cheek. He couldn't help but chuckle. _Is that all it is..._ "Your mother had horrible taste in women."

Now she couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're gorgeous," he repeated. "Took me enough courage to finally say it to you! I wish you'd actually believe it yourself. Here, um..." He darted to another table that held a washbowl with a pitcher inside and a washcloth draped on the side. "Here," he handed her the dampened cloth.

"Thanks..." She seemed to get quite a bit of relief from the cool cloth. "I'm sorry for getting so upset..."

"Don't be sorry," he countered. "You just went through a lot." His hands went to rubbing her shoulders. "Blondie, when I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were the _most_ beautiful girl I'd ever seen. And, you may not know, but I have seen _quite_ a lot of girls. Yesterday, I don't know how all that hair was contained in that braid, but somehow you looked _even more_ exquisite. And now?" He turned her back to face the mirror. "Look. You're a mature young woman. Brave, confident. It looks spunky, like you are."

Rapunzel's mind darted to a few days ago, when a similar posing and topic had ended with her mother- no, Gothel- turning it into a joke. ' _Oh look, you're here, too!'_ She gasped, but it turned into a long inhale that helped calm her down. Eugene wasn't joking. _But he still called me 'Blondie.'_

"Besides," he cut into her thoughts with a devilish grin as she watched him in the mirror. "Guess what other _gorgeous_ rogue sports short brown hair, er- but in a handsome way?"

She rolled her eyes and finally, really calmed down. " _You,_ " she cocked her head towards him and smirked.

"Oh, well..." he played it off cocky. "Why thank you. You see, just like myself, I believe the most attractive people," he watched her eyes in the mirror as she watched his, "Have ambitious spirits, regardless of their _hair color_ , or _name_ , or what have you." He wrinkled up his nose and shook his head with the last part, then eagerly awaited her realization.

It hit her alright. ' _I like Eugene Fitzherbert_ much _better than Flynn Rider.'_ Her eyes showed her shock and understanding.

He grinned. "But really, you do look _gorgeous,_ too," he nodded as they both chuckled.

Rapunzel turned around to throw her arms around his neck. "Thanks, Eugene."

His hands went to embrace her waist. "Anytime, Blondie." She seemed to be as calm as she could get, given the circumstances. _Is now a good time to ask?_

She pushed away and gave him a disapproving smirk. "You still called me 'Blondie,' again!" She folded her arms defiantly.

His brow furrowed and his head bowed apologetically with his own sad smirk. "Sorry." _Guess not._ He looked her in the eyes. "But do you mind?" he blushed. "I still like it as a nickname for you, but if you don't, then..."

"No, I don't mind though," she smiled. "After all, what's in a name?" She shrugged and purposely turned her gaze sultry.

 _Oh God, marry me. Marry me and call me whatever you want!_ As if heeding a command from her eyes, he leaned in for a kiss. Sure enough, she grabbed his neck and pulled him the rest of the way. _Maybe I can ask her after another session here? She has to know she's not going to be left alone here..._

This one would be just a quick reprieve. "But Eugene," She pulled away to find his hands at her waist, so her arms rested on his chest. Her expression turned sullen again. _I'm safe here, in his arms, but..._ It wouldn't do for what she needed to ask. _If he wants to leave, at least now I know I have my parents to go to._ She gently pushed his arms away, and while at first he resisted for a moment, he quickly dropped them when he got the hint of what she wanted. His fists groped at nothing as he turned extremely anxious. As she usually did for comfort, she wrapped her arms around herself, and looked down. _Deep breath..._ "Why did you leave me last night?" 

Eugene was hit with shock. She was missing a huge chunk of the story, wasn't she? _And she still saved me?_ "Rapunzel, I didn't- I mean I didn't mean to." Now he had to take a deep breath. "Whew, okay... Actually I suppose I'm missing a bit, too, I guess..."

"Eugene." Her small voice pleaded, still keeping her gaze off to the side.

"Rapunzel, I- I'm sorry." He turned his gaze down, too, now, and let his hands go limp. "You know that, what was in the satchel, that's what I'd stolen the other day. A crown." 

"Crown..." She repeated and looked to him, logging away the fairly new word, but still upset.

"Yeah, but, it wasn't being used anyway. I was planning on selling it for, basically just imagine a mountain of gold. But the Stabbington Brothers had helped me steal it, and I was trying to get them out of the deal. I needed their help, but didn't want to split the gold with them. So I ran off on my own with the crown and hid in here. They were two of the ones chasing us at the dam. They-"

"Dam?"

"The dam," he repeated, before realizing it was another new word. "Oh, um, the place where we came out of the tunnel, and there was that huge wooden wall holding back all that water? That wooden wall is called a 'dam.'" He paused for her to take in the simple definition, waiting for permission to continue.

"Okay..."

"So, where was I... Uh, after the dam, the brothers were standing on the shore, where I saw them from the boat. But, by then, I'd realized it wasn't worth it- the crown! The crown wasn't worth it. I wanted to just get rid of it, get rid of them chasing us. I couldn't believe when you brought it up in the boat, like-" he chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Like you still had to _pay me_ for taking you out there... But once I spotted them, I couldn't focus on you while feeling guilty that you'd given it back to me. I didn't explain it all to you before because I just didn't want you to worry about any of it."

"You still-"

"I know, Blondie, I know..." He lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut, not seeing when she flinched. "I should have just kissed you then, and never stopped." She eased up and even blushed at that. He opened his eyes again but kept them downcast. "I was planning on just surrendering it to them so I could just run back to you and be at ease, but they didn't want the crown anymore, because somehow..." It still felt like he had shackles on his hands, again, as he confessed everything he could to her. He looked up. "They knew about you... Your hair. At the time, I didn't know how they could know..." He shook his head her, and mentally restarted the kicking of himself from that moment.

"They said you _traded_ the crown for _me_ ," she mumbled in the smallest voice she could, "For the 'girl with the magic hair.'"

"Rapunzel," he said slowly and carefully, looking her right in the eye, "I didn't. They only _told_ you that. But _I_ am telling you, that is _not_ what happened. I would _never_ do that. To anyone." He looked her up and down quickly. "You're a girl – a young woman, in fact. That's... That's just an awful thing to do, magic or no magic."

 _Cuz I'm so much smaller, and weaker than them..._ Her grip tightened on her elbows. _I still trust him. I want to believe him. But I need to hear this whole story from his own mouth..._

He took a couple deep breaths, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but, hand to hand, I'm no match for those guys. They got me easy, knocked me out, tied me to a dinghy, -a, a type of smallish boat- and sent it back towards the dock, apparently. When I woke up, I was tied everywhere, and there were guards jumping down to surround me..." He stopped only to gulp and try to stop his heart from pounding fear into him- fear of her not believing him. "They got the sentence right away, somehow. I was up all night trying to figure out how to get out of there, and had already told everyone I could that I knew that the brothers were going after some innocent girl, but without telling them about why they would want you and your hair, nobody believed me, -I mean, I didn't tell anybody- but just, nobody cared about them ' _maybe,' 'possibly'_ targeting someone they didn't even know... Then again, I don't know what time the brothers themselves got picked up... This morning the guards came to take me to the gallows, I-"

Rapunzel gasped and whimpered all in one, and returned to staring at the distant floor. _I do know what 'gallows' are..._

 _Oh, Rapunzel, is there hope for me in your judgment?_ "I... uh, I saw them in their own cell. I was able to knock away the two guards holding me, and grab one of the brothers through their bars. They just said they knew 'cause of 'the old lady.'"

Rapunzel kept the wheels of her mind turning, analyzing all the different angles of the bare facts, versus claims. _'Mother' really HAD plotted that part all along... She practically_ sent _those goons after me!_

"The guards grabbed me again, but actually," he smiled. "That's when things started getting a little funny."

"Funny?" She sounded offended, but finally looked at him again.

"The thugs from the Snuggly Duckling all showed up and busted me out. Ah- I can regal you with the specifics of that later, it was pretty funny. Maximus had gotten them. Oh, he's actually outside here. Got me here as fast as he could..."

Rapunzel just stared at him, waiting for more.

"And, well, then here we are..." _Wince._

She tried so hard not to just succumb to those big brown eyes pleading with her. _I'm still upset with you for leaving me on the shore, not telling me what was going on! ...but..._ She looked to Pascal on the vanity, but his eyes were already dripping tears. "Oh, Pascal!" She went to pick him up, but he shooed her hand away, instead pointing her towards Eugene. "Well, if even _Maximus,_ AND _Pascal,_ believe you, when they don't even _like_ you..." Rapunzel smiled sympathetically, and turned to finally face Eugene again.

And there was the smolder.

"Oh, you!"

They both burst into giggling as she leapt up a bit into his arms, and he pulled her up for a kiss, gently but firmly holding the back of her head again. _Now._ "Rapunzel," he leaned his forehead against hers and smiled, "I love you."

"I- um," Rapunzel's stomach flipped. _I knew it!_ Her and Gothel would go back and forth: 'I love you,' 'I love you more,' 'I love you most.' But that was an automatic response. She had to. Over recent years, any meaning had been lost already. _Why do I have to be reminded of her..._

"What is it?" Without parting foreheads, he tried to look into her eyes.

"How do you say it back?" For once she knew how to phrase an important question. Still, she bit her lip in a frown, internal punishment for her eternal stupidity. _I do have some stories I've read- why can't I think..._

"Well," Eugene smirked, "Why don't you try saying it first, then see what I say?"

The proximity to his face, his chest, his hands, his scent- it was all making her a bit dizzy. She slowly nodded, her lips ever so slightly parted, preparing to try to speak. "Eugene-"

"Hmm?" He coyly teased her, caressing her neck.

"I love you." It came out slow and raspy.

"I love you, too."

Her heart jumped out in joy now at the positivity she knew she would hear. Why did the dark shadows of doubt always creep into her mind? She _knew_ he loved her; yet she still found herself thinking she might be unlovable. She picked her head up slightly, expecting she knew right where to find his lips. But he was already pulling away, and down. _What's he-_ She opened her eyes to see him dipping down, to one knee. He already held her right hand. _Uhm, this looks... solemn..._

"Rapunzel," he locked eyes with her. "Will you marry me?"

Rapunzel could only make little noises, as she had no idea what to say or do. Luckily, Eugene kept talking.

 _Because I'm an idiot._ "I know you've already been through so much, in just the last few days, and especially just now," _Way to freak her out._ "But I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I'll keep you safe, always. I want to be with you, forever." _Why can't I stop talking._ "I wanna run away with you. We can't stay here, I don't expect you to, but..." _Now what?_ "B-but... I _promise._ " _Oh, shit._ "I will never leave you." _Ever._

"Eugene..." She wasn't smiling, just still stunned.

 _She's not smiling._ His stupidity turned it up a notch. His Flynn eyebrow cocked itself. "And when I _promise_ something," he smirked, "I never, _ever,_ break that promise." _Well, seeing as this is the first promise I've ever made- I think?_

Rapunzel clicked back to reality. He still thought she was pretty, even with the haircut. Loved her, regardless. She had a vague children's-storybook idea of marriage that had been fermented with Gothel's damnations. But staying with her forever? That she understood. He would never leave her. That was more than she had dared hope for at any point! _But, what about me being the princess?_ "Eugene..." she started again. This time, her face was scrunched up in worry and confusion, her teeth gritted.

He shuddered. Flynn died of fright in him and disappeared. His face mirrored hers. "Which stupid thing did I say wrong...?"

Her brow stayed furrowed, but her mouth softened to a smile at his own worry. She shook her head, as if to say _That's not it_. "Eugene, I'm the lost princess."

He was expecting the knife more than this. Everything about him slowly deflated into shock.

"Please, don't freak out?" Rapunzel held her hands up, leaving his hand to drop.

He stared at his empty hand now, dumbfounded. "Wh-what?" he chuckled. _She has to be jok- NO._

"I said, I'm the lost-" 

He jumped to his feet. "NO. No, no, no, you can't-" He waved his hands in front of her, trying to make the news go away.

"But, doesn't it make sense?" Her 'smarty-pants' side flailed her own arms, gathering floating evidence to show how right she was. "Gothel even admitted she wasn't my real mother! She practically admitted the entire thing!"

"Rapunz-" His heart sank. He stumbled back to the bed as a flashback hit him. In the orphanage, he was about eight years old. They were releasing lanterns on a new holiday, the Princess's birthday. She had a weird name he couldn't pronounce correctly. Weird, like... _Rapunzel._ He leaned on his knees and hid his face in his hands.

"Eugene," she practically whined. "What else do you know about the lost princess? Please, I know this has to be true." She gripped his wrists as she sat next to him.

 _No... no, Blondie this ruins everything... EVERYTHING._

She gave up trying to pull his wrists apart. "Ugh... Please, Eugene. Why won't you tell me?" She dipped her head upside down, trying to look as cute as she could, hoping he would be stealing glances through his fingers.

But he was pressing in on his eyeballs. _Blondie._ His breathing quivered. _Right after I spill my heart to you, you are literally asking me to take it back and slowly tear it to pieces for you..._

She kissed the back of his hand, rather enjoying making him shudder. It made her feel better. Then the other one. She was well on her way to learning that she could control his every move. She let herself be proud and smile about it.

His hands crumpled with a long, labored sigh. _I wish I had drowned with her._ "Blondie..." He tried looking at her, but it was better to tell these things to the floor. "You have the same birthday. Same age. I think you have the same name. No, I'm pretty sure. There was a fuss that the baby had blonde hair, but both the king and queen have brown hair. But, right before the queen gave birth, there was a rumor that she had fallen terribly ill or something, and that a 'magic golden flower' was used to cure her. I think I remember people saying that's _why_ the baby had blonde hair- unless I'm just connecting all that now because, I _am_ freaking out." _Why bring me back just to torture me..._

Rapunzel listened in awe. However, Eugene's attitude discouraged her from jumping around the room. "What about her eyes?" she asked as she crossed her legs and leaned towards him.

He shook his head. "I don't have any idea how any commoner would even know about her eyes..." Denoting the new difference in their statuses bit into him hard.

"Yesterday," she went on, "I saw a _huge_ mosaic of what I think was the 'royal family,' from what everyone was saying. A man and a woman, dressed so finely- and they were holding a baby with long blonde hair and-"

His eyes darted to hers. Her gorgeous green eyes. "Don't."

She didn't hear him try to interrupt. "Green eyes!"

 _Lord, take me._ All he could do was look away again and sigh. He rubbed his hands together, stroking where she had healed him the first time.

She stopped her bouncing on the bed. "Eugene?" Her eyes begged him to meet them, but he was lost staring into space. Her mood plummeted lower than his. "Why are you upset that I would be the lost princess? I mean, is that not a good thing?"

"That depends on the point of view, amongst other circumstances," he snapped. "Blondie, if you're the lost princess, then I'm dead. And it makes perfect sense that you..."

Whatever his reasoning was, Rapunzel knew that him talking about being dead was too much for her. "Why...?" _Dead?_ "Eugene, why would you be dead?" She dared to grab his arm again.

"Because, Blondie," he flopped back on the bed. _Doesn't matter now._ "For one, I'm on your bed. I kissed you. I had my hands on you. I'm alone with you. I've been alone with you a lot. I'm a thief. A 'Wanted-Dead-Or-Alive' thief. I was already supposed to be executed this morning. And you're, a _princess._ "

Rapunzel shook her head. "I still don't understand, why any of that... I mean besides that..." At least one part slowly pieced itself together. "If... if we went back, they would try to execute you again, right?"

"Maybe more than once, now."

"But..." She looked to her flag, crumpled up on a corner of the bed with them. A whimper finally made it to the surface, in place of words not coming. "I'm sorry," she managed.

In an instant he was pulling her down to lay pressed up to his side, to clutch her, at least while he could. She eagerly snuggled in, breathing him into her, trying to overpower the saltwater bubbling up. "No, _I'm_ sorry," he reassured her, as he held her waist and rubbed her arm.

"I don't even understand..."

He took a deep breath. "Just, trust me..." 

"Is this wrong? Why would only you be in trouble?"

"I don't know." _What did she even say..._ He was too busy holding onto her for dear life and trying to bury himself in her cute pixie hair.

"What do the king and queen do? They 'rule the kingdom,' like you said yesterday, right? What about the princess? Doesn't that mean 'rule,' like... laws, and stuff? Bad guys and good guys?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"I don't know how it all works, kingdoms and..."

"Kings and queens make the laws, well, probably mostly just the kings. Er- each kingdom only has one king, and if he's married, his wife is the queen, yeah. And people who break the laws -like, say, they steal something, or touch a woman they're not supposed to- the guards catch them and they get locked up in prison. Sometimes just for a little while, or sometimes they are executed. They're the bad guys, the king protects pe-"

"But you're not!"

"Yes, I am..."

"Eugene, I love you."

"I love you, too, Blondie."

"I can't lose you again. I don't know if I could bring you back again. I want to stay with you forever, too."

 _Too much._ Eugene expertly hoisted her up so their heads were level, lying next to each other there. He devoured her lips, drinking up her words. _Her cheeks are hot, but not from crying, from- anger?_ He had taken her by surprise, but she did not resist his hands on the back of her neck, nor the small of her back. Slowly, as he caught his heart and was able to allow it to drift back down from his throat to his chest, he rolled her onto her back, straddling her dress.

She gasped a little in his mouth, but turned it into a moan on the exhale. She only had to struggle to get her arms up around his neck and shoulders, so she could try to pull him even closer.

His heart bounced up again. He broke the kiss, panting, trying to breathe right.

"Eugene." It came out nearly a whisper.

He opened his eyes to meet hers.

"Tell me," she dragged two fingernails down along the stubble of his cheek, "About the good guys." She cocked her head with a childish smile, unaware it was received as anything but childish. "What do they do..."

 _Heavens help me._ "They..." Part of Flynn came back, but only to support the new found sap. A wolfish grin came over him. "They rescue princesses. They only touch a woman when she wants him to touch her." _She just quivered, mmph!_ "They recover what's been stolen. And then..." He couldn't bear the last to her eyes, since it would be a lie, so his face fled to the crook of her neck. "They're welcomed as heroes."

"I told you you were a good guy." Her lips brushed his ear with the whisper, as she squeezed him with all her might.

He clenched his teeth tight, to resist putting them to her delicate skin there. _Sounds to me like either way, I die. Died being the good guy, would be dead for being the bad guy, too._

"What about princesses?" she asked at normal volume again.

"Ah, _princesses_ , huh?" He leaned up onto his elbows. "'What do princesses do?' Well, for one," he cocked his brow. "I _hear_ , that they are a HUGE pain in your _side_." He chuckled, so she did too. "But, I actually don't know. You..." When he was _lost_ in her eyes, the truth did not hurt so much. Actually, it was more like he had already known her all her life. "I was only eight when you disappeared. I haven't heard about what any other kingdoms' princesses actually do."

"Well then," a sparkle flared up in her eye. "For all we know, princesses also get to sort out the good guys and bad guys."

He could not speak. He could not break both their hearts at once. Not again. A hard gulp recovered his vocal cords. "But..." He brought his lips right up within reach of hers. His hair dangled over her, lightly brushing her forehead and cheeks. She smiled, and tried to catch his lips, but he leaned away. "Princesses marry princes." Another gulp fought to beat his heart back down.

For a moment, they both searched each others' eyes for understanding, for answers. Eugene found understanding, but Rapunzel found no answers she liked. She finally gasped, unsure whether to ask 'what' or 'why' first.

Eugene could not take the disappointment in her face any longer. He slid off of her and stood up.

She bolted up indignantly. "But do they _have to_ marry-"

"Yes."

"And it can _only be_ to a prince?"

"Yes."

"You're not a prince by any chance then-"

"No."

"But you said you were an orphan! Maybe your parents-"

"No, I may have been an orphan, but I knew _who_ my parents were. They just, died."

"Well, but..." She could not find any more straws to grasp at. She sat back on the bed, and reached her arms up to hang onto the long hair beside her face- but settled for the canopy post when she found nothing there. "But," she looked up to him, trying not to pout, "Eugene, you're all I have..."

She looked and sounded so pathetic, and he had nothing to make it better, so he simply did not respond. _And I want to... want to be your everything, want to be a good guy for you, be your prince, but..._ The mention of his parents had swirled up, in the back of his mind, the few memories he had of them. Just glimpses, mostly. Ordinary days. _But I knew_ _them..._ He drew a deep breath. _This is a suicide mission._ "You have your parents. They live in the huge castle we saw. And, you have the whole kingdom, in fact!" He took a delicate step towards her. "That whole celebration was just for you. _Just_ for you. It really was..."

She scoffed and looked away. She knew where he was going.

"You have Pascal. And he knows everything about you. And so long as Maximus isn't in trouble for helping me break out, you can go visit him in the stables. And-"

"But I want _you._ "

 _Complete suicide mission._ "I'm only- Hey, I'm only the first guy you met! There are plenty of guys out there that are _much_ better than me." _They'll have to kill me, first, but... they'd better be amazing to you..._

She was shaking her head already. "They can't be."

"But you don't even know-"

"Yes I do!"

He shot his hands up in stunned surrender.

"You showed me yourself! You showed me the world, and I've learned so much. You can't just _tell_ me what it's like. It's one thing if I genuinely don't understand how something works, but you can't just tell me how _people_ in general are!"

Eugene's eye sparkled with understanding the root of what she was actually contrasting him to.

"You are the good guy who saved me. No one else could ever claim that now. You even _died_ for me!"

 _Damn straight!_ He smiled sweetly, standing directly in front of her again. "But I can't keep you all for myself." He brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "I'm taking you back."

"No!" She grabbed his collar and smashed their lips together again.

 _I'm beginning to think good guys die even_ more _than bad guys..._ He didn't fight her; just melted back into her. _She's killing me here... Again..._

She pulled away to add to her protest. "Not if you can't-"

He returned their lips back together, picking up the pace and pouring in as much passion as he could. He could feel her going faint. _Finally..._ She was at last putty in _his_ hands. He grabbed her around her waist, supported her bottom, and spun her around to the wall. His body pressed up against hers, forcing a startled whimper he felt in his mouth. Taking advantage of her distraction, he moved his hands around to find her wrists. "Payback."He broke the kiss, as he pinned her wrists to the wall beside her hips. "Blondie." His voice was deeper than usual. "You want me?"

She opened her eyes, still shuddering excitedly. "Yes- but..." She giggled. "Eugene, lemme go-" Her giggling was on the verge of sounding actually nervous, but he had a giddy face she knew well.

"Nah-ah!" A devilish grin flashed. "Not til you make a _deal_ with me." He found himself giggling, too.

"Oh, you-!" She giggled more, trying to shuffle her feet to do something about her predicament. A soft, then stubbly cheek brushed hers; lips so close to her ear. She paused.

"I want you to meet your parents. I, will act as your guide, then, if you still want, whisk you away, safely. Then, and only then, will I-"

"What if you're arrested again?"

"Well," He picked his head up. "We'll figure out later how exactly to go about getting you in front of the king and queen. But," He found her eyes to let his swim in. "If it does go south, then hopefully princesses can do something about sorting out good guys and bad guys."

She gulped. "But-"

"Your father's name is Walter."

With that, Rapunzel felt her head fall, as she gave in to the part of her will that did want to so desperately meet them.

Eugene let one wrist go as he brushed a stubborn springy hair away yet again; his pretense for caressing her cheek. "Your _real_ mother's name is Lillian." His other hand turned to instead interlock with Rapunzel's fingers. "I wish I still had my parents, or at least had them longer til I'd grown up more, like a normal kid."

She sighed, ' _Normal...'_ and pushed her face into his chest. "Alright."

"Promise me."

"I promise- I do want to confirm from my- _parents_ themselves if it is true. I do want to meet them. I want to see what they're like. They obviously really want to find their lost princess, so I want to show them that I'm okay, and who I am. But... I'm scared."

Eugene straightened up, with her falling forward to follow his chest. He collected her in his arms. "It's gonna be alright. Of all the new people you've met so far, all the new people you're going to meet, your parents are not people for you to be scared of."

"I know. But I still am."

"I know, I understand."

"There's that, and of course I'm scared for you."

"I'll be fine." It was just an automatic response.

"But-"

 _No more buts._ "So you promise you'll give it a shot?"

She took a shaky deep breath. "I promise."

He started to pull away. "Alright then-"

She abruptly finished separating them, but sternly took hold of his shoulders. "But then _you_ promise _me_ that you'll stay safe."

"Ah..." He couldn't just start throwing promises around lightly. His blank expression turned somber. "I... I can't really promise that..."

Rapunzel looked more like she was reprimanding.

He sighed. "Blondie, it's not like I'm _looking_ to throw my life away." He chuckled. _Okay, maybe a little._ "I mean I don't _want_ to die!" _Unless I can't be with you._ "So of course I'm going to _try_ to stay alive. But..." He turned somber, too, now. "But I won't promise you anything that I know might be out of my control to keep- I couldn't bear to break a promise to you." A genuine smile.

She returned the smile, yet sadly. "Well... Alright..."

Eugene took the opportunity to kiss her worries away for a moment. "I suppose I could promise to 'do everything in my power,' though."

She smirked. "There ya go. I trust you. Somehow it was in your power to break out of prison and get all the way here, so... this shouldn't be so bad, right?"

"Exactly!" He stepped back and held up a bicep for show, pretending to be his alter ego with the massive ego for a moment.

Her giggling overtook her, pushing all the anxiety and uncertainty down, deep deep down.

He allowed himself to catch her contagious giggles again, likewise flinging his fears and worries to the wind. "Let's just get outta here already!" How could he not smile at her? At the start of a new journey...

Her giggling continued in agreement.

He turned to the vanity, and allowed Pascal to climb into his hand, then deposited him on his shoulder. "Are you going to need anything?"

"Oh, um, I don't know, do I?"

Eugene snorted a little laugh. "Alright, let's see." He stood in thought a moment, gazing around her bedroom almost dreamily. For the first time he got a good look at everything, trying to take it all in. This was the only place she had ever been for 18 years. Every bit of her was imbued in every miniscule inch, even invisible stories of how a certain scrape had come across the wooden side of a bureau. Her painted murals, borders, and doodles stretched over every inch of wall. In a bit of surprise, his gaze followed the murals up, up, and up into the rafters of the spire roof. His mouth fell open a little.

"Eugene?"

He blinked back. "This is beautiful..."

She hunched over humbly but chuckled. "Thanks!"

He shook his head. "Um, got a thin blanket?"

Trying to stay focused on what would be practical, or at least what constituted a healthy emotional attachment, Eugene quickly packed a sack for her. He tossed in a nightgown, hair brush, the small kingdom flag, the flower hair pins, a shawl… He showed her how the corners all came together into the center, and tying them held everything in. The sack was set aside next to her little box case of painting supplies.

Downstairs, Eugene insisted he carry her over the broken mirror, towards the kitchen as requested. They gathered the trusty frying pan for Rapunzel to hang onto. She took to scouring her shelves, cupboards, and crevices for anything she wanted to bring into her new life. She found nothing.

Amidst the sparkling shards of mirror and glass, Eugene found where Gothel had dropped her shiny dagger. Ever so slowly, he stooped to pick it up. With a towel and a gulp, he wiped his own blood off of the long blade. His eyes glanced to Rapunzel, the embodiment of his new resolve to live. She was busy studying her shelves of belongings. Gingerly, the dagger slipped through the belt of his vest, right below the bloodstain. A little twist, and the hilt stayed caught on the thin strap.

"I've basically memorized these books anyway..."

"The castle will have like, every book ever made."

"Should we bring anything to eat?"

"Not with the royal feasts you're gonna see."

"Clothes?"

"You have a nightgown for tonight, but just wait til you get your hands on all the gowns for a princess!"

The sun was high in the sky by the time Rapunzel decided she was ready. "How long will it take to get there this time?"

Eugene set the sack under his arm, then transferred the handle of the paint case to that hand. After the revelries he'd just described for her, he sighed. "We'll stay at the Snuggly Duckling for tonight." _One night... Just give me a little more time, please._ "Okay?"

"Okay!" she chirped. She followed him down the trap door's ladder to the narrow spiral staircase. They carefully felt their way from there in the dark, step by step, as she held sure to the back of his larger belt.

For Eugene, his heart pounded as it did the last time he walked down a tight stone hallway. Though, he much preferred this walk to the gallows than this morning's.

* * *

 **A/N** One more thing! Follow me as MiraNova23 on tumblr for updates, chats, my other fanworks [to come], and general Disney geeking. =)


	2. Chapter 2: Tangled vs The Colonel

**Updated as of:** September 16, 2015 – simple rewrite cuz I wasn't happy with a few things, like got a character's lack of reaction to something slightly wrong, nothing different plot wise.

 **A/N:** One major goof in Ch1, though I fixed it within a couple days of uploading. The King & Queen's names are Walter and Lillian, respectively. & to answer a particularly worrisome question I got, NO, Eugene is not 'planning to kill himself'- he just recognizes that life without Rapunzel would be meaningless, & that his plan to bring her back is incredibly risky.

If you're a fan of the TV series Chuck, starring the voice of Eugene himself, Zachary Levi, then you may notice that the chapter titles are taken from episode titles. If you're not a fan, then I highly suggest you join us. Otherwise they mean nothing. ;)

Casual reminder: this is Rated M for reasons.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Tangled vs The Colonel**

"Careful of the stones," Eugene warned her as he turned to take her hand with his free one.

"I've got it." Rapunzel carefully navigated her bare feet from the back door of the tower to the grass.

Suddenly an excited whinny snapped them both to attention; though Eugene was more so horrified. _Guards!_

Max came sprinting around from the front of the tower, elated.

Eugene let go the breath he was holding. "Oh, right."

"Oh, Max!" Rapunzel exclaimed as he trotted over to her. "What are _you_ doing here, huh boy?" she asked knowingly.

Max ignored her babying question and instead began nuzzling her face. He paused for a moment in slight confusion, however, and sniffed the new ends of her hair. He simply nodded sweetly and continued gushing over her.

"He helped me escape I told you," Eugene answered for him as he stepped next to the pair. He patted Max's neck as he continued. "Can't believe how fast you got me here." He paused to make sure to look Max in the eye. "Thanks, buddy."

Rapunzel stepped back to face Max as well, while still holding his snout in her hands. "Thank you, so much..."

Eugene set down the items he had been carrying next to Max and began securing them. A ribbon tied between the paint case set's handle and the bumbag made it perfect to sling over the horse's back end as a makeshift saddle sack.

The painted paint case caught his stray thoughts. It seemed the only sentimental thing she wanted to take. He imagined it had to be what her soul looked like- beautiful layered splotches of color, that no one merely gazing at her paintings could ever truly see or hope to understand. This was what she used to create, how she chose what to reveal or hide behind. Only he had seen it. She may have been locked away from the world all her life, but she was not a blank canvas.

He looked back to her, as she was relaying to Max what had transpired once he had lost sight of him. He stepped back beside Rapunzel as he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer, both of them beaming. "Yep, and- guess what?" He motioned for her to finish.

"Max," she wound herself up and bounced a little before losing it. "I'M the _Lost Princess!_ "

Max merely nodded and continued grinning.

Eugene chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Ugh, he's a horse." He brushed away from Rapunzel to secure the bags from the other side. "He doesn't understand."

Max hit Eugene's shoulder with his snout as he passed, and grunted.

"Ow, what?!" He glared him down, fully expecting an explanation.

As best as his long face could, Max smirked and rolled his eyes. That transformed into a more serious, expecting grin and raised waiting, _knowing_ eyes.

"What..." Eugene's face fell. "You knew?! This whole time and you didn't say anything?" He contorted, working his frustrations out into a grimace and a couple arm flails. "Urgh, why didn't you say so before I-" _fell in love with her._ He caught himself. A glance back to Rapunzel, who was giggling at him, reassured him he had no regrets, nor choice in the matter. "Nevermind. Thank you," he sighed. "For letting us figure this out on our own." He turned back to fixing the packs.

Rapunzel drifted into a daydream as she watched the stream alongside the tower, possibly for the last time. It was teeming with life, just as every Springtime before. Dragonflies and cattails, frogs and lily pads, fish and gnats, butterflies and dandelions. For a decade and a half, she'd pondered their cycles, their purposes, their places in the world. Now she was finally onto a new stage of her own life, to find her own place.

"Here," Eugene grunted as he mounted Max's saddle. "Rapunzel."

"Oh," she blushed as she broke out of her reverie and turned back to them. She had seen people riding horses around the kingdom the day before, but now she was confused. _Am I... going to walk?_

Eugene reached his hand down for her with a smile. "Here, gimme your hand. I'm gonna pull you up, and your butt's gonna go right here, okay?" He patted an empty space on the saddle between the horn and himself.

"Okay," she giggled. She gripped his hand.

"Ready?"

"Yeah." She jumped a bit and he pulled her into position as he had said, until she kicked Max's jaw as she tried to swing her leg over.

Max thrashed and stomped around a bit, trying to recover his senses.

"Whoa!" Eugene giggled as he snatched her waist and held tight. "No, no, no- You've got a dress on. Just-" He grabbed at her knees and fixed her legs and dress to sit side-saddle.

Max quickly settled down and composed himself.

"Sorry," Rapunzel cringed.

"No, it's okay. I got you," he soothed. "There we go. Side-saddle for you, Princess," he chuckled with her. He still had to fidget his own seating, adjust where she was situated against him, and make sure she was secure enough. At last, she fit perfectly in his arms, turned just a quarter to the side and supported against his chest. "Okay. Well, _that_ was _romantic,_ " he huffed. He turned Max around and directed him towards the tunnel. He pressed Rapunzel's head to his chest, keeping her facing away from the dusty cloak behind her. He cleared his throat. "I suppose all that's left to do now is ride off to my kingdom in the clouds, hmm?" He leaned down to peck her cheek.

"What?" Rapunzel and Max both scoffed in confusion.

"Nothing, old fairytale." He shook his head, but smiled at the thought nonetheless. _That_ would _be nice,_ he sighed, _But a 'fairytale' is right. Even this 'deal' is just a way to get her to agree to return to her family. Then, high-tailing it to Snow's kingdom doesn't sound like THAT_ _bad of an idea right now..._

Rapunzel, on the other hand, nestled into his embrace, fully relying on their agreement. Although, her ignorance was not entirely blissful. More than the worrying, repeating thoughts about her true parents and princess-hood, or about leaving behind her tower and anything she ever felt for Gothel, she focused on her most important goal. _I have to keep Eugene SAFE._

* * *

Eugene leaned down as close as he could to the horse's ear. "Coast clear, Max?"

Max had been on alert since they had left the tunnel. Nothing had seemed suspicious thus far. They had taken the same route as their first trip, carefully winding through the forest. Now they had to venture out from the safety of obscuring trees and onto the road to reach the Snuggly Duckling pub. The immediately surrounding area seemed just as quiet as the rest of it. He looked around with slitted eyes a bit more, sniffed the air, and curtly nodded.

Silently, they pressed on. Rapunzel held her breath as she gripped Eugene's waist tighter and her hands latched onto his belt from both sides. He squeezed her a little tighter for a moment, and she began breathing a little easier again.

"Round the back," he whispered.

Rapunzel popped her head up over Eugene's shoulder to watch behind them.

Max quietly rounded the tree beside the pub, hopefully hidden from all sight.

"Okay, Blondie, can you hop down?" He kept his voice as low as possible.

She nodded, but instead slowly slid herself off. As she fixed her skirts, Eugene dismounted. She caught a small smile in her direction he could not suppress; she blushed back.

Eugene noticed, but proceeded to sneak over against the tree, and creep over towards the pub. There was indeed a back door, a few nearby barrels swarming with flies, but also a couple windows. As he crouched underneath them, he motioned for Rapunzel to follow.

She finished untying the frying pan from Max's saddle and brandished it before her. She repeated Eugene's movements without fail, and scooted up next to him against the wall, awaiting his next direction.

He smiled again. _Sneaking around is_ definitely _better with a competent partner._ He locked his eyes back on the door, and pressed his ear to the wall. _What?_ He leaned away with an utterly confused look.

"What is it?" Rapunzel whispered, touching his shoulder behind him.

He hesitated, and checked again. "Laughing, and... is that a fiddle?"

Rapunzel looked down thoughtfully for a moment, then stood straight up to peek through one of the cloudy little windows. Her eyes could barely focus on anything before Eugene grabbed a fistful of the crossed laces from the front of her bodice to yank her back down.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he hissed wide-eyed at her.

"They just looked like they were sitting around like normal," she defended.

He had to agree, that's what it sounded like. "But they couldn't have gotten away from all the guards at the prison..." he pondered quietly.

She shrugged.

He bit his lip and crept around the barrels to the door. Silently, he rose to his toes, pulled the dagger from his belt and found a comfortable grip on it with a flick of his wrist. In slow, controlled movements, he leaned against the door and wrapped his hand around the handle. He pulled it open just a crack. Sure enough, jovial rabble-rousing, music, and laughter seeped out. Eugene sneered in confusion once more. He glanced over to Rapunzel, and motioned for her to check out the window again.

She nodded, but this time more furtively peered in from the side. Her face lit up and she gasped a little.

"Oh, it is them!" She hopped around the barrels and up to Eugene's side.

Still cautious, and worried, he creeked the door open. His breath caught and heart dropped for a split second. In the corner, there were two royal guards- tied up, and unconscious at least. _Oooh-kaaay..._ He frowned and quickly pulled the door open the rest of the way and stepped inside, dagger still drawn.

Only he nearest laughter ceased, as Hook Hand turned from his conversation at the end of the bar to see who was coming in. "Rider!"

Big Nose looked but merely nodded, tipped his mug to him, and continued talking to Vladimir.

Eugene didn't even register the name for a few seconds. He shook his head clear. "Um, what...?"

"You're alive!" Hook Hand exclaimed with open arms.

" _I'm_ alive? How did _you guys_ get away?" He gestured around to them casually with the dagger, then to the tied up guards, "And what's with this?" before returning it to his belt.

"Ah," Hook Hand dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about our 'babysitters' over there." He swung his good arm around his shoulders.

Eugene recoiled from both the weight and closeness.

"Welcome to your trap."

" _What?!_ " He jerked away with a worse grimace. His hand gripped the handle of the dagger again as his eyes darted all around him.

Hook Hand laughed heartily. "Yeah, those two Sleeping Beauties there were supposed to catch you if- and I guess when- you came back here."

"I... see..." Eugene relaxed a bit, not yet completely unperturbed. _Am I REALLY so predictable? They ALWAYS know where I'm gonna be. Gotta work on that..._

"So where's Blondie? You get her?"

"Oh," he finally perked up. "Yeah, she-" He stepped away from Hook Hand and turned around. She wasn't behind him. He jumped on his heel to the door and looked back outside. "Rapunzel?!" Suddenly his ears picked a girl's giggle out from the crowd inside. Still hanging onto the door, he leaned back. In the corner of the pub, there stood Rapunzel, her fingers covered in cupcake and her mouth in frosting. Eugene gave a weak laugh as he waltzed over.

"Ya know, I can't pay for that anymore." He smirked with one hand on his hip and the other jiggling his empty pouch.

"Oh!" Rapunzel gasped, then turned on the puppy dog face for Attila.

He waved her worries away with his oven mitt.

"Thanks!" she chirped, then wiped her mouth.

"Hey, Rider?!"

Eugene jumped as Big Nose came up next to him.

"What'd ya do ta Goldie-locks here?" Big Nose asked as he leaned an elbow on Eugene's shoulder.

Rapunzel dropped the last bite of her cupcake from her fingers, along with her expression.

Eugene dropped his jaw, but immediately bounded to her side and grabbed her shoulders from behind. "First of all, her name's _Rapunzel_ , and..." he held his head high, " _I_ cut her hair- to save her."

Rapunzel shrank into his side, but smiled a little.

"Aw," Shorty spoke up, "That's a sha-"

"HEY!" Eugene yelled. "Look, you guys have no idea what's happened!" He pointed around to all of them accusingly. "She's better off without it, trust me." His hand squeezed her shoulder a little more. He looked down to her. "And I like it," he smiled.

Rapunzel's heart warmed from his support, despite anyone else in the room. She could tell he was looking at her, but just tucked her chin down and smiled politely, still conscious of everyone else's stares. _And he still hasn't said he 'loves' it, just that he 'likes' it..._

"Hah," Hook Hand called, "Looks like you needed a little saving yourself."

Eugene's hand flew to his side, the bloody tear in his clothes. _Her magic- I probably still shouldn't tell about that. That's up to her._ "Oh, heh, this?" he chuckled. "Tis a flesh wound!" he brushed off gallantly.

The thugs erupted in a round of laughter, but he watched as Rapunzel's smile disappeared.

"But..." he started again, then waited til they quieted down, "But I'd be dead if not for Rapunzel here."

She instantly perked up and smirked up at him.

Eugene took her hands in his and bowed slightly at the waist, "You're my hero, Princess."

" _PRINCESS?!"_ The room boomed. Beers were spit out. The music died unceremoniously.

Rapunzel blushed furiously, but burst out into such a fit of giggles that Eugene straightened up and hugged her from behind, just to keep her grounded. She rested her hands across his arms. He caught her contagious laughter just a bit. Swept up, he tenderly kissed her already burning cheek. " _I know you saved me more,_ " he whispered in her ear as he leaned his forehead against her temple, just for them to hear. She grinned from ear to ear.

That single peck stopped the show. The ruckus fell dead silent, but only for a moment, before erupting into whoops and howls, cheers and whistles- for Rapunzel bagging the Pretty Boy. She blushed all over again.

Eugene hid his face in her shoulder, but was snickering as well. This was exactly the release he needed after the past 12 hours.

"Well," Hook Hand spoke up, "Come on, let's hear the story then."

Eugene picked his head up with the biggest grin he'd had in a while, which in turn infected Rapunzel. In just 3 short days, they were proud of all they had accomplished in their story. "Alright," he replied, "But, it'll cost you a meal and a room for the night."

"Hah, you owe US!"

"Ain't you said she's a princess?"

Suddenly Eugene gulped. _These guys wouldn't be THAT uptight._ "Um, yeah."

"I'm the Lost Princess," Rapunzel finally joined in, then stammered a bit, "Of Co-Corona."

"THE _Lost_ Princess?!" Big Nose exclaimed. Murmurs spread through the others.

Rapunzel nodded shyly.

"Yeaaah..." Eugene answered. _And they CAN'T possibly want her for some kind of reward! Or would they? -Shit._ His grip on her tightened.

"Well!" Hook Hand concluded, "The boy's a hero then! And anything for our long Lost Princess, Blondie."

"'Boy?'" Eugene rebuked too quietly under the roar of the crowd cheering. _And 'hero?' Don't go putting ideas in her head..._ He looked down in time to see her spring from his arms.

"Yup, he is!" she squealed as she bounced over to Hook Hand to hug his arm. "And thank you so much!" _Maybe now he'll start to realize he really is a hero, too..._

Eugene took a deep breath and one more glance at the motionless guards in the corner, before following her to a table with his uncertain smirk on again.

The rest of the afternoon and some of the evening, the unlikely crew ate and drank, laughed and joked, but mostly listened intently to Rapunzel spin her story together for the first time. Eugene interjected for his parts, and helped her point out important parts of her own, ever careful not to step on her toes. Still, by the end, both were getting even themselves so riled up that they spoke in pace with each other in only partial sentences. The pub thugs oohed and ahhed, laughed and teared up, awwed and cheered throughout.

Where Eugene hadn't been sure about how much of her magic to reveal, Rapunzel felt comfortable enough to explain it all to them. She even included how the last of her magic, in the form of the tear, and brought Eugene back from death itself. He had to hold her hand tight through that part, for both their sakes. Their deal, however, for her to meet her parents but then still run away together- that neither breathed a word of.

They ate hearty garlic broth and herb roasted pheasant, so savory that Rapunzel thought it a worthy royal feast already. She never cooked anything that fattening or well seasoned, but today seemed enough of a special occasion to make an exception and at least eat as much as she pleased. She excused herself from the smelly ale, however, and likewise Eugene stuck to water.

As soon as Maximus had entered the story, Eugene jumped up and excused himself to go tend to the poor forgotten, worried animals outside. Max insisted on coming in to curl up by the fireplace, and Pascal scurried back to Rapunzel. Eugene brought Rapunzel's belongings up to an empty bedroom and set them at the foot of the bed.

He rejoined the group half relieved and half worried all over again, but kept it to himself. _There's only one bed._ Some random smirks and frowns escaped in response to his random ideas. Every so often he would absently stroke the side of her hair away from her face, and they would smile sweetly at each other. This prevailed above all other pleasurable yet guilt-inducing thoughts. _I'm going to protect her._

* * *

"Um, Eugene?" Rapunzel whispered to him. She was practically sitting in his lap at the booth table they were in.

"Hm?" he immediately leaned his ear down.

"I'm sorry, but, um, I'm getting kinda tired..." she cringed. "I mean I don't mean to-" _Shoot, now everyone's going to think I'm rude and don't like them and-_

"Yeah, of course." He smiled sympathetically with her. "You've had a few really long days, huh."

Just this evening was the most socialization she had ever participated in in her life, actually. "Thanks," she sighed.

He urged her to get up, and he followed. "Come on, I'll take you upstairs."

She took a few moments to bid everyone thanks and goodnight, as well as more apologies for cutting her own time short.

At the first eyebrow waggle of insinuation, Eugene piped up. "I'll be back down. Come on, let's go." She followed his direction up the stairs. "First on the left."

They stepped in and he lit the candle on the nightstand. The new lighting immediately struck him as quite romantic, and made him flinch. He turned around to see Rapunzel digging through the bag; she emerged with her hairbrush, then frowned at it. Eugene chuckled as he stepped over to her. "I don't think you need to worry about brushing your hair as often anymore." Hesitantly, he reached to run his fingers through the short lengths. He held his hand at the base of her head.

She blushed, and looked up to him. "No, I guess not."

The flickering candlelight reflected in her eyes, and instantly he was mesmerized. His lips fell apart a little.

Rapunzel noticed the effect on him, and licked her own.

His mind could not pick a track all evening, but right now it decided, "Sorry there's only one bed." _Not sorry._ Without thinking, his other hand sensually smoothed over her side. After all, his hands had been on or near her waist almost the entire day.

She drew in a deep, shuddering breath, waiting to find which of them would make the first move in.

But that shudder in her broke his trance. He blinked back to protector mode. "Are you okay?"

"Oh," she blinked out of it, too. "Uh, yeah," she lied with a smile. "Yeah, um, we should both fit though, right?" _Where else would he sleep?_

He smiled back, unsure. "Yeah. Alright then. Good night." He slipped his fingers out of her hair, and slid his hand off her side as he stepped back towards the door. "I'll be downstairs a bit longer." He turned to go; his eyes left last.

She gasped a little. "Eugene-..."

He eagerly stopped and turned back. _God I so wanted her to stop me from leaving!_

She hurried over to him, latching onto the collar of his doublet again, but not pulling him much at all. "Uh..." Now that she was here, she just froze and stared at his lips. "Good night..."

This time was deliberate. He slowly eased down, touched their noses, slid his nose down to the side of hers, and ever so little puckered his lips out to just barely ghost near the tips of hers.

She took them the rest of the way into the soft, delicate bliss.

Eugene's arms flew around her back to pull her close, but he quickly broke the kiss to look at her. _She's not 'scared' of kissing me or anything- it's something else._ Still holding her with one arm, he ran a thumb over her cheek. "You're still anxious, aren't you? You're worried about heading back?"

She broke any bit of happy facade she had up, and nodded with a pout. _Not really what I was thinking about this moment, but yes of course... Especially after going through the whole story again._ "Whether they confirm it or not- I'm worried about _you._ "

He half-smiled and kissed her nose. "I'll be fine. Just try to get to sleep. I'll bring you up some milk or something to help in a little bit. Okay?"

"Okay," she smiled again.

"Okay," he repeated, "I'll be back in a bit." And they reluctantly parted.

* * *

Eugene climbed the stairs carefully, steadying the three drinks as he tried his best to tiptoe in his boots. _There's always the chance she might actually be asleep already._ He had been gone a lot longer than anticipated after getting lost in conversation and dodging investigations into his obviously conflicted intentions. He smiled to himself, though, that all he had to do now was climb into bed with his beautiful love. In one hand, a small shot of their sweetest liqueur. The other was hooked through two pint glass handles; one full of mead, the other half full of milk. He wasn't personally experienced with mixing liqueur and milk, but was sure it would be better than her staying awake all night from anxiety. She needed to sleep.

He needed to figure out how to actually get some sleep himself, while he'd be right next to her. He'd known this all along. She didn't know anything about men. Their fooling around and romantic moments were mild enough for _children –_ so far. He'd known this all along. He'd been the first other person she'd ever even met. He couldn't. He wouldn't. He'd known this all along. Though, there were as many reasons saying he should. He knew this, too.

Silently, he drifted to the open doorway, his hazy eyes already absently gazing inside. She wasn't asleep. "Rapunzel?" he still whispered for no reason.

She was perched kneeling on the edge of the bed, with her eyes barely open, and her skirts askew.

Finally, his eyes registered. His boots loudly halted him in his own shock.

Rapunzel slammed into instant horror, terror, and shock. "EUG-!" She squeaked as she let out a scream. Her eyes were at their widest, but her irises their tiniest as they honed in on him. "No- It's not what it looks like!" Her hands were already up and waving all about. Had they ever really been where he thought they were? "I'm not- I'm not..." Full on panic freak out had already commenced.

That snapped Eugene back into action. He rushed over to the nightstand to set the drinks down.

His sudden movements scared her further, as she jumped away from him, first to the corner of the bed. Then, as she stumbled, she left the bed and retreated over to the far window clutching her arms. There was too much instant panic to cry. "Eugene, I'm sorry-!"

" _Blondie..._ " he tried to soothe her. The actual act, and what his normal reaction would have been, were both gone from his mind. Now he was scared, too. _Why is this suddenly so scary?_ He noticed how hurriedly she had moved away from him, so he paused and slowed down his approach. His hands were up as if surrendering, but he was also ready to snatch her in case, for some unfathomable reason, she would run past him.

She stood petrified, eyes locked on him. "I didn't- I wasn't-!"

He was still slowly making his way around the bed.

Rapunzel shrank even more into herself. "Can we just forget that-"

"Shhh," he whispered. "It's okay."

"Am I in trouble?" Her poor little face was all tied up in a knot.

"No," he forced a smile as he shook his head. "Blondie, it's perfectly okay. Just come here. Why would you think that-" _Oh._

She wasn't budging. "I just-"

"Blondie, it's okay." He tried tilting his head down to the side towards her. He was merely a yard away now, but still didn't want to frighten her anymore than she already was. His hands lowered, but one to his side, and the other he held out for her. "Rapunzel," his voice fell deep again, but then so soft, "You're not in trouble. Just let me explain..."

She breathed a little easier now, finally believing that she at least wasn't in trouble. "Explain what?"

"Yeah." His unrequited hand tried slowly, gently cupping her cheek. The contact sent a spark through her, that made both of them jolt a little. "You liked, doing... _that_ , don't you?" _This is never easy to get girls to talk about..._

She cast her eyes down.

He never stopped searching for her eyes, but did not try to influence her chin, allowing it to relax in his palm. "You like what you were doing, because it feels good, right?"

After locking up for another moment, she nodded a little.

"Then you should do what makes you feel good."

Suddenly a question, a question that had actually been nagging her for years, came to mind, now that it realized it could side with him. "Eugene..." she tried to start, then stopped. _Is this like how he's probably justified stealing?_

He noticed her stop herself, and it wasn't just a nerve-gathering pause. "It's also okay to be embarrassed about it," he chuckled, trying to lighten her up. "It _is_ something private, that you _normally_ do all by yourself, and no one's the wiser. But I'm guessing you were told it was bad and that you should never do it?"

At long last, she drew a deep breath, and he saw he could retract his hand. _Yes, exactly!_ She looked back up to him. "Then why would she tell me it was bad? What's so bad about it?"

Eugene just shrugged with a frown, hands on his hips. "Some people just don't want other people to have any fun, even if they're only enjoying themselves. She's not the only one to try to get people to believe that it's bad. _Lots_ of people go through that, til they realize it's actually good." His memory jogged. "Healthy even! To let it all out. Another part of growing up. But trust me," he touched his chest, then waved it away. " _Everybody_ does it." With that, he shifted his weight to one leg and folded his arms, and allowed himself to beam with confidence in just successfully explaining the second -okay maybe third- most complicated thing ever, after sex and babies. He fought to keep his smile sweet, though, not too cocky.

She was finally smiling, too, soaking up his radiance, basking in it. "Thanks." She stood up straight and hugged him over his folded arms, which he quickly corrected.

"You're not alone anymore." He squeezed her tighter for a moment.

"You mean, you want to... too?"

Eugene's breath caught, and he stiffened. "Uh..."

Rapunzel pulled away from his chest, but leaned back against his supportive arms, leaving her hips pressing deeper into his. "And you said it's _'normally'_ by yourself, but..." She had a bit of realization. _The ending... In front of HIM?!_ She bit her bottom lip. _It's just, something else new, I guess._ She bore deeper into his eyes, where she always found so much courage to siphon. "I like it when you show me new things. Like kissing." She pecked his lips.

Despite his tightening throat, Eugene finally found words to use, to try to brush this off. His voice came out almost nervous. "Well, I like showing you new things." _Wait, what? I'm supposed to be going the other direction._ "But..." He ran his hands down to her hips, almost forgetting to carefully pull them away from his own. "But I think you looked like you knew exactly what you were doing." He couldn't help but grin strangely at that thought.

Rapunzel grinned back. "Well, then... Um..." She backed off, reaching for her hair to hang on again, but instead just rubbed her neck. "So?" She squeezed her knees together. _I didn't get to finish..._ A frown took her over.

Eugene sighed. "You um..." He stood back and rubbed his face. "That was only your first kiss before! This is too much, isn't it?" He kicked himself for not being rhetorical and instead genuinely asking her that.

She thought for a moment, but thinking about kissing him just glassed her eyes over and curled her lips dreamily. "I just..." She closed her eyes for a moment, looking about for how to describe it. "I didn't, like, finish? If that makes any sense? I thought that it would calm me down and help me relax for the night, like it usually does."

 _USUALLY?!_ At that Eugene's brain suffered a minor explosion, though he willed his expression to freeze up.

"Especially since kissing you got me feeling close to like that kind of-"

Eugene forced a fake cough. "Um, excited?"

"Yeah, but with kissing you, there wasn't- well..." She didn't want to insult his kissing. He certainly seemed like _he_ knew what _he_ was doing there.

Both his hands were over his face now, rubbing away. "Yeah..." Instinctively, his hands went back to his hips, drawing a few unwanted glances from her to the region. "Yes, Blondie, you're on the right track. But kissing, just kissing by itself, doesn't, well- like usually I mean it- um..." He took a deep breath and emphatically set his hands in front of him. "It doesn't _end_ the same."

"Oh..." She guessed she understood, but seemed almost disappointed somehow.

His gulping didn't help make her little acknowledging "oh" any less cute. He shook his head. "Look, just- I brought us some drinks. I'm gonna take mine back downstairs, and give you some time for yourself, okay?"

She half-smiled and shrugged. "Okay." _Fair enough._

"Okay," he parroted. He rubbed his hands together, then furtively planted a peck on her cheek. Mead back in hand, he bowed a little as he backed out the door, and closed it.

* * *

Downstairs, he busied himself with balancing a most distressing equation. By the time she was done, how many drinks did he need to lower his blood flow enough to kill his _issue_ ; versus how many drinks could he have without losing his inhibitions? But there were too many variables. It was much easier to count 1, 2, 3 days since they met. 18, 26, 8 years age difference, but she was at least solidly within marrying age. Had she not been kidnapped as a baby, the king and queen would have made arrangements for this sole female heir as soon as possible, planned the wedding as soon as she bled, and she'd have a child or _three_ by now. _That_ scenario alone deserved a chug until it was driven from his mind.

So yet here she was, very much single, unawares, and in his charge. Then, averaging out the learning curves between a well-cultured and very matured but overly sheltered young-woman, and a suave but overgrown man-child...

He was at three pints right now, after only 10 or 15 minutes, which meant the initial equation could go either way from here. He lifted the fourth to his lips. His issue was taken care of for now, though he knew it was only sitting on the back burner til-

"Um, Eugene?" A tiny, far off voice called down to the pub area, barely audible over the just-getting-started nighttime rowdiness of the thugs.

 _Three it is._ Whichever that meant. "Yeahp." He called up to her.

"Hah, little boy's gonna be made a _prince_ tonight!" Hook-hand guffawed, slapping him on the back awkwardly with the broadside of his hook.

Eugene stumbled a bit as he was thrust forward. The room erupted into laughter and other jeers. Some similar, some just smoochy faces, some vulgar. Big Nose was the only one in the crowd defending him. At least Shorty was too out of it to participate right now. He looked like he was trying to woo a goat. _And they're picking on_ me _?_ Stone faced, lock jawed, Eugene stoically marched through them all without making eye contact once. _I thought the walk of shame came the morning after. You know, after you actually_ did _something._

Upstairs, he ushered Rapunzel back into the room.

"What are they talking about, making you a prince?" She unfortunately sounded hopeful.

"Nothing, Blondie." He sighed. "They're just making fun of me. Ignore them." He closed the door and locked it. "And they're kinda too stupid to know how it works." _Not exactly_ what _they were intending to make fun of, but this is how it actually is... And that's just how I feel, alright, not that they're getting to me because they are NOT._

"Oh." She tried not to be too sad about mistakenly thinking there was hope, when there wasn't.

"They like you. And now they like that you're a princess." His eyes rolled and arms flailed. "So, _of course_ they have to make fun of _me_ for _not_ being a prince." He wasn't bitter about this at all.

She turned to show him a smile. " _I_ like you."

 _Man, forget being a prince. She likes_ me, _hah! So there._ He smirked back at how happy she could make him feel, so effortlessly. "See, now that's what's important, right?"

"Yeah," she chuckled.

Eugene sat down on the edge of the bed facing the door. He leaned over to take his treasured riding boots off. There was another back story behind how he got these bad boys, but he didn't feel like opening up about _that_ right now. Still, the thought somehow oozed into a warm fuzzy feeling. She would love to hear his silly weird stories, just to cradle and fawn over them.

Anyway, there was still the issue of tonight right now. "Hey, you should have changed while I was downstairs." And he really hoped she had, so she wouldn't have had the chance to give him anymore issues.

"Oh, I can't take it all off by myself."

He cringed. "Alright, com'ere." She was already seated on the bed behind him. He turned and knelt on the bed, ready to help.

"Oh, thanks!" She repositioned her back to him. "Hold on." She untied the laces from the bodice in the front. Undoing the bow and loosening them was enough, and gravity began to take that part. Her hands pressed over her chest to keep the front up, but the rest slid down her shoulders. One at a time, her arms wriggled out of the sleeves. She tried reaching behind her to pull the back lower, then suddenly brushed Eugene's rough hand, and she recoiled her own.

"I got it." The buttons on the back of the underlying corset were what she needed him for. He began slowly unhooking each tiny one from its loop. Despite the heat already trapped in the room, he could feel her own rising from her smooth skin. This close, he could see tiny hairs so soft, he wanted to see just how close he would have to get before his breathing disturbed them. _Back to the buttons._ He had to stare hard at each one just to remember how to undo them. Even so, he imagined placing a kiss behind each success.

"You okay?" _Heh, he seems more nervous than me._

"Yeah..." he breathed. He cleared his throat. "I've just um, never seen a dress like yours before."

"Hm, thanks." She settled in, proud of her personal work.

Halfway down, he could tell just how much of her chest he was releasing to freedom. The lower half still jealously hugged her form tight. He reached the end of the visible buttons. The rest was covered by the back of her dress. "How much more is there?" His voice was raspy again.

"Under this part," she tugged the back of the dress again. It wasn't going down any further, unless she let go of the front.

He took a deep breath, and slid his fingers down, between the two layers of fabric. His fingers moved more quickly now, picking up the pace before he could be too affected. However, his breathing only recognized it as a frenzy to get the clothing off for the wrong reason. With his fingers down as far as they could reach without pulling the dress down further in front, he finally felt flesh with a sharp inhale. He snatched his hands back, shaky.

Rapunzel didn't move right away. _Now what... I mean, he's right here- shouldn't he not see me?_

Eugene sat back and gaped at her, just quietly sitting there with her clothes hanging off. He tried to dig his nails into his thighs. "Blondie." Now it sounded gruff. He had totally lost control over his speech tonight. "Hey. I'm finished... Did you need help with anything else?"

She swung her feet out in front of her to reach the floor. "Um, yeah," she looked up with a puppy dog pout. "I'm sorry, could you get me my night gown?" 

"Oh!" Eugene exclaimed. "I- yeah, sure." He got up and retrieved it from the makeshift sack on the floor at the foot of the bed. "Here." He kept giggling to himself, at his giddiness.

She was already blushing when she reached to take it, and now she was on the verge of giggling too. "Thank you."

Eugene felt himself stiffen again at the sight of her from the front now, sweetly gazing up at him, with her dress half off but held up by only her clutch. His cheeks burned. _Maybe the threshold was two pints..._ He clutched his belt buckle, which he instantly realized was the opposite of what he really needed, unless what he needed was a hole in the head.

"I... uh..." He dipped his head quickly. "You're welcome." Once again, he swiftly headed back to his side of the bed. He sat back down on the edge with his back to her. Elbows on his knees, his head hung in his hands. "Go ahead, I'm not looking."

She was beat red now, too. That fluttering, _good_ , anxious feeling was definitely coming back. She pursed her lips, fighting the tiny grin trying to spread. "You promise?" It was coy, like she almost sounded like she wanted him to look.

He laughed, a little bit of release. "Look, I promise I want to. You like that?"

"Eugene!" She turned and poked his shoulder, scolding his bravado.

He continued laughing, "Okay, okay, yeah I promise I won't look, as much as I want to. Better?"

"Okay then." She stood up, and faced his back. They both fell silent again. She let go of the dress, letting it fall to her hips. The corset fell into her hands, which she tossed to the end of the bed. She kept a careful eye on the back of Eugene's head. Then, on his shoulders. Then, his waist. Then, how was his frame still so slim for a man, yet so much larger than her own? Those broad shoulders flowed down smoothly to his thin waist. The lines on his vest followed, as if sculpted just for him, as if it were a part of him. Rapunzel shook her head and blinked hard. This hadn't happened with any of the other people she had seen.

Eugene heard the slipping, sliding, and bunching of every bit of fabric, ribbon, and skin. He sighed hard.

She shimmied the dress down the rest of her her body, and stepped out. The silk night gown was flung up over her head, and slipped down over her like a waterfall. She caught the little sleeve openings at the top and shrugged them into place. "Done!" _I can actually pull it on over my head now!_

"Okay." He couldn't undress himself while she was undressing herself; he wouldn't have been able to think enough to do that. But now, he pulled his belt buckles loose and flicked open the rest of the latches on his doublet and shrugged it off. He reached for the top of his back, grabbed at his white shirt, and swooshed that off. Both landed on the floor.

"Oh..." Rapunzel gasped, and brought a palm to her mouth. _He didn't even wait! And oh my Goddess his BACK!_

"You watchin me, Blondie?" He shot a smirk and a glance over his shoulder, but didn't actually catch her expression.

"Well-!" She stamped her foot, still grinning. "You're the first man I've ever seen!"

Eugene chuckled. "I know. And that's why I'm trying not to frighten you."

She relaxed and sighed. "Eugene, you haven't frightened me since I had you tied to my chair," she chuckled.

" _Ohhhh,_ " he feigned belief. "But I mean I don't want to frighten you with my Greek-godly frame. We both know what a weakness you already have for my smolder."

Now she was outright squealing in laughter. "Eugene, what on earth are you talking about..."

He sighed, but gave her a little laugh as well. Then he had to concentrate again. He could bounce on the bed for a second and pull his pants free from under his butt in a discreet instant. Or, he could stand, _at full attention,_ and dramatically let them fall -and maybe even catch- as he watched her expression. He decided to bite his tongue. _Yeah, I'm the first man she's ever seen- that'll definitely freak her out..._ "Um, do you mind if I take my pants off? I'm really-" he caught himself but blamed the alcohol, "I mean it's kinda hot in here."

Rapunzel was happily enjoying the sight of his bare back, and wondering if it would ever be appropriate to touch it. "Oh, um, sure. I guess?" _Not like I know!_

Eugene stood, keeping his back to her. "Ready?" he teased. Still with his back to her, he slid his pants down, revealing most of him to her now. Only his own short undergarments, around his privates and behind, remained. He struck his best Adonis pose, carefully positioning the turn of his contrapposto to keep the front of his loins from her view.

She burst out laughing again.

He could no longer stand it; he had to hold that laughter close to him. Eugene quickly turned a bit, grabbed the corner of the blankets, and slid under them. Thinking he was safe, he stretched out, raising his body off the mattress a little. "Ah, come on," he yawned. "Lay down. You know I don't bite."

"Uh, Eugene- what was that?"

He looked straight down himself and his heart stopped. "Oh!" One hand swooped under the blankets as he turned to his side. "Left something in my pocket." Carefully, the unseen nothing was pantomimed as being dropped to the floor beside the bed.

"Oh, okay." She hopped in on the other side.

 _Whew, that was close._

"I guess it is a little small for two people, isn't it?" Somehow she still seemed innocently cheery about being proven wrong.

"Aw, you don't wanna be so close to me?" He pouted.

"Oh, Eugene..." Rapunzel chastised, snuggling as close as she could to his chest.

"Do you want to leave the candle lit?" he asked worriedly. "It's okay if you do."

She snorted. "Don't be silly. _You should always put it out before you go to sleep,_ " she recited.

"Okay." He leaned over to the table and blew it out. Right before the light ceased, though, he noted that the shot glass was untouched.

"Besides, we don't need it while we sleep; it'll ruin your eyes."

Eugene sighed, "Sto- _oooop,_ " but it devolved into a yawn. _I don't wanna think about_ whose _words those actually are right as_ I'm _trying to go to sleep._ His arm draped around her shoulder, but found more comfort at her waist. His own waist, on the other hand, he kept bent as far away from her as possible. "Goodnight, Blondie."

"Goodnight, Eugene," but she paused. "Ah-... I love you," she ventured.

He opened his eyes once more and grinned for her. "I love you, too."

They kissed ever so delicately, then settled down to sleep.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were even farther from it. Slight shifts, subtle movements; with their eyes closed, every other sense was heightened. As they each concentrated on emptying their minds for the abyss of sleep, the other was all that would remain. Occasionally, a toe would find a leg. A hair would fly away to a face it didn't belong to. Mis-angled nostrils would blow a sweet breeze that was actually disturbing. Four hands were a lot to keep track of. Every moan, sigh, and grunt seemed but a prelude, stoking the embers that already boiled them inside, speeding their breathing. This was anything but settled.

 _I've never slept beside anyone... Except_ her, _as a child when I was scared. But this is entirely different- an entirely different feeling. Not exactly scared. And oh! I can't calm down. How am I supposed to sleep like this? I wonder if he's awake, still, too._ But she wouldn't dare open her eyes. As an excited yet terrified, and curious yet inexperienced teenager, she was a lot more normal than she realized. Her eyes were squeezed shut a little too tight; her arms bunched underneath her uncomfortably.

Eugene's Adam's apple pulsed and twitched as he lay on his back and kept still. _Won't she just go to sleep._ He had spent the past 30 minutes blaming his sleeplessness on her sleeplessness. More so than any cohesive inner monologue, his mind's eye played out scenes from, or perhaps for, his imagination:

 _/In dim candlelight, Rapunzel lay out peacefully on her back, arms draped about her torso, the blanket only coming up to her waist. She wore the blue silk nightgown he had just seen. Her long blonde braid, dotted with flowers, gracefully curved about her./_

 _/Or maybe the nightgown wasn't there- just the hair adding modesty./_

 _/No, she had her back to him, without the blanket at all. Just the perfect curve of her tiny waist, rising up over her bottom, gently fading into her slim but powerful thigh, which the nightgown prudishly hoarded from full view; her thin leg delicately draped over the other. Radiant!/_

 _/Where was her hair? Was he dreaming? No, her magically long blonde hair was chopped away, leaving the cute brown pixie cut to suit her new courage, that bounced freely with her and couldn't be tamed let alone held in any place for long./_

Smiling to himself, Eugene lifted his arms above his head, reveling in how he loved her spirit. His mind proceeded to take advantage of his physiology and new position.

 _/His wrists were tied. There was the panic before he realized it was hair, and had been done to him by a beautiful girl. His love! Unlike last time, now it looped his wrists above his head, attached instead to somewhere at the head of the bed. His ankles? Spread, but he couldn't see them. She was above him with the pixie cut, leaning her weight on her hands, pressing down on the exposed inside of his biceps, further restraining him. He arched his head back, begging her permission to thrust as his pelvis began to throb. She had situated herself too far up his body. He groaned, but faded to a soft moan as she tantalizingly raked her nails down his chest. He tried leaning up for a kiss, his eyes pleading with her to save him from this torment./_

Eugene grunted exasperatedly and fitfully curled up on his side away from her, crossing his arms. _I hope I'm not disturbing her... Hmph, would only be fair with how she_ disturbs _me, though! -But, she's only a young girl who's just, just trying to get through all this... Being with me in any way or manner of speaking- is all new to her, she has no idea..._ He sighed, turned back over towards her, and opened his eyes.

Rapunzel was likewise scrunched up facing him, but with her eyes still forced shut tight. Her breathing was also too fast to be asleep.

Even in his own sleep he would have been able to tell she was obviously upset. She had every reason to be. Maybe he shouldn't have coerced her into going back and claiming her crown. If she weren't the princess, he could have shown her all she was asking about tonight. As just a parentless maiden, whom he wanted to marry and protect anyway, he would have had nothing to worry about. They could have run off to another kingdom and lived happily ever after. Pure fantasy. In reality, right now she was just lying there, nervous, admittedly curious, and completely available to him. Tomorrow she would be recognized as the princess and forever out of his reach, but tonight... She was in love with him. He shouldn't even feel bad, for he was in love with her, too, right? Tonight was his last chance to be with her. It was his last chance to touch the princess in all sorts of unholy ways, before any other man ever even knew she was real. The princess could be all his. He could. _I could never._ He sighed again. _I know that our little 'deal' isn't going to work. Whether I'm recaptured or not on the charge of stealing the crown-_ her _crown, there's no way I'll be able to essentially_ re-kidnap _the Princess once they get her back..._

"Blondie," Eugene whispered. "You awake?"

Her eyes shot wide open at him. The pout remained.

"Hey..." He gave her a smile as he ran his fingers down her cheek. "Can't sleep?"

She shook her head and moved her eyes away from him.

"Still too worked up?" he asked, worriedly again.

She blushed and nodded, looking back to him sheepishly.

"C'mere." His heart went out to her, frightened of the future, and he knew that part of that was actually her fear for his own safety. He urged her as she turned over, her back spooning into him, his strong arms holding her close. There was still enough of a tiny urge of bravado to finally press his hips against her bottom. Besides, his issue had subsided.

Settling into him was as comforting as her hair fort. Her panicky heart instantly felt at peace. _I have to make sure he stays safe._ "Eugene..."

"Hm?" _Shit I'm not really poking her am I?_

She remained silent. _How could he understand all he's really done for me..._

 _And her not answering is not good._ He eased up on his waist. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I dunno. But, everything's fine when I'm with you." _Like this whole new world is just amazing..._

"Aw..." _How on earth am I going to leave her with her parents..._ He burrowed his face into her sweet hair. _Strawberries, is that it? Never noticed it when it was blonde, hm... Then again I only noticed that it smelled like flowers, when she actually had flowers in it-_

He was suddenly aware of her hand atop his, gliding it down her stomach.

He stopped it. "Rapunzel..." he breathed heavily, "What are you..."

"Show me." _I want to see what this is like, to..._

His head perked up and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. "You trust me?"

"I trust you." _...what it's like to feel that with him._

He bestowed a single kiss on her lovely bare neck, causing her to gasp and shiver. He switched his hand to top hers now, and continued moving down. The rest of his body could feel her heart start racing. "You okay?"

An overexcited giggle escaped her. "I'm fine! It's just new."

Their hands reached the warmth of her center, bunching the nightgown up at this intersection point amongst her thighs and belly. "You sure about this?"

" _Euge-e-ene!_ " she chided with another giggle.

" _I just worry,_ " he whispered, before he reached up the hand of his arm that she lay in, to brush the short pesky ends of her hair away from her neck. His mouth dug into devouring her neck, his apology for going too slow for her needs.

Rapunzel gasped and bucked away a bit before they both froze. "What-" _Did he just BITE me?!_

" _Just kissing you,_ " Eugene whispered again, but urgently. "No biting, no marks, I promise." _Really, returning the Princess with hickeys? I don't think so._ He smiled to himself, then touched his lips to her skin again, in another slow, chaste kiss. "Okay?"

She gasped again, tingling from the spark he sent through her, titillated from the coarse hairs of his goatee just barely grazing her. Impulsively wanting more, she leaned back into him. " _Okay,_ " she whispered back breathlessly.

He resumed his quest to have sucked every spot on her neck, and his bottom arm to her clutch her torso. Between tongue pressure and rolling her flesh through his opened teeth, he made extra sure to move slow enough so she could savor it and recognize each movement, but not to linger so long as to leave any discoloration. Below, his hand left hers for a moment, and headed straight for the hem of her nightgown. From there, his palm and calloused fingers pressed firmly around her bare thigh as he dragged them back up to her bare hip, raising the nightgown. He slowed down, but only to tease her side as she showed she understood, and really wanted it.

Rapunzel's breathing intensified. Each inhale seemed a gasp, each exhale a little moan. She unfortunately realized this as well, and caught herself. "Oh-! – I-I'm sorry..."

"No," he strained his neck forward and urged hers to turn back to let their lips meet. "You sound beautiful..."

She hummed a smile and carried on through their kiss.

They both flinched when he reached hair; short, coarse, curly. He resumed with pressing small circles, inching his way along. She clung to his arm, desperately bracing herself.

Something about that made him feel uneasy again. _This is too much at once for her._ He released her lips and retreated back to her neck. "Gimme your hand again." She did, and he intertwined their fingers in a little dance before placing his hand atop hers again. "There ya go, gonna take it nice n' easy." He guided her hand the last bit to her slit. Instantly he felt the warm moisture welcome their fingers. _Oh sweet death..._ He cringed into her hair. _I'll hang forever surer now._

Rapunzel gasped desperately, and lost track of all reality from that moment. There was only the feel of them, together, that remained. She allowed him to expertly maneuver around there, working it up just so perfectly, it confused her how he could know just what to do. Gracefully, he swirled them around, making her dizzy. At first, it felt more like what she was used to, since her own fingers were against her, but he was the one moving them. On the edges of her lips though, and the insides of her thighs, was the distinct otherness of his hand. Larger, rougher, and not controlled by her mind. His breathing on her neck was quickened and heavy, but offered no clues to what he would do next.

She decided that since she did trust him, she could trust whatever he did to her on his own. She retracted her hand. Only he was left, spreading her lips with two fingers, the rest busy driving her mad. Her mind felt like it was about to fly away from the overload. She moaned to get back in the rhythm she knew she needed, to catch the waves that were washing over her, to ride them.

Eugene squeezed her tighter as he noted she did know exactly where they were going, and how to get there. After 18 years alone, she at least knew her own body so well. She was amazing for it, and it was going to be amazing to witness her.

Spreading her lips allowed too much dryness to take over, for his liking at least. He slid a finger back to where he knew she would give him more juice. Without fail, he collected it, circling around just outside the opening.

 _Goddamned 'princess!'_ He grunted as he bemoaned what he hadn't even lost yet.

The palm-side of his knuckle pressed against her spot while he lingered there, and finally she had her big wave to ride. Her thighs clenched, and she shivered a bit, but continued rocking against his hand.

Before he could question her, she choked out a command, "Keep going."

He continued without question. This time, she picked up the pace. He slowed down, teasing her perfectly. Sometimes he would give her a little relief. In another couple minutes, she had another well formed wave, caught. She tensed up despite the ripples shuddering through her. Eugene kept his hand in place while she rode this bigger one out. He could feel for himself how every tiny muscle under his fingers pulsed within her, ushering more liquid as reward. But she hadn't stopped rocking him.

She finally caught her breath, and her moans resumed. Her muscles relaxed, but were not done.

"More?"

She nodded furiously.

He moved his fingers to start again, but she squealed and he paused. _So you're gonna be like_ that, _huh_ , he chuckled.He took to only alternating applying pressure around her spot ever so slightly, while he got them situated. _Urgh Rapunzel you're too good._ "Trust me." He hooked his top ankle around her top leg, pulling it back, spread, and pinning it down. His bottom leg laid over her bottom leg, pinning that one down. His hand let loose with a fury, swiping her spot mercilessly. His ears sinfully played in the sloshing noises he could make in her juices.

Rapunzel could not contain herself. The beginning of a little scream escaped, but they both reached a hand to her mouth; he held his hand over hers.

" _But don't let them hear you,_ " he whispered urgently. The screams still came, just as muffled squeals. She bucked violently; the wave was already taking her. While she managed her volume herself, he shifted his hand from helping cover her mouth, to back across her chest and clutched her tighter. His teeth gently ran over her earlobe, if only so his mouth could find it. " _I love you, Rapunzel,_ " he whimpered softly.

A whimper of her own escaped mingled with her screams. She was so far gone, her entire body seizing against his. It had a mind of its own now, and was trying to rip away from his restraining efforts, which he redoubled, and she was thankful for. She caught sight of his forearm, the sinewy muscles flexed as he struggled to ride her wave with her. She ran her hand over his arm, through the slight perspiration and light hair, the rock hard muscle and smooth skin, really intentionally _feeling_ him simply for the sake of. Even he was joining her moans, getting off on everything about her being. She never noticed the bulge pressed between them.

Eventually she froze up stiff for an immeasurable few moments. Her mind had already knocked her out with the uncontrollable pleasure washing over her.

Eugene waited til he felt her relax, then carefully released his grip on her, and shuffled her legs back together. He pulled the nightgown back down, and the covers up. This was the first time he actually didn't want to leave, but had to. Then again, there wasn't really anywhere else to go _to_ in the pub. Even rolling away from her pained him, but he did.

At first he was smugly pleased with how he was able to give her everything she wanted and how she loved it. She was so beautiful through and through. He could barely comprehend her paradoxical pure innocence and hidden sexual desires. He could, however, imagine her, just a short time from now, as the smartest, most caring, sweetest mother ever, and best fuck of a wife ever. The other day, there had been vague worries of what a cute little thing like her could do to make him want to stay and be tamed, while he would still crave something more carnal, despite how much she intrigued his heart and mind. After finishing taking care of himself, though, and ruining a handkerchief, he just felt pitiful. _I can't truly stay by her side... And she'll never be_ my _wife._ His face twisted in on itself as he spiraled down into misery.

Eugene heard as Rapunzel hummed a happy groan in her sleep. Her backside reached out, followed by an arm wandering backwards, both wondering why they were finding only more bed.

 _But tonight..._ He resumed his spot as her big spoon. His arm wrapped around her side to her chest, protectively. "I'm here," he breathed. "I'm here, Love." _Tonight I can dream._

* * *

 **A/N:** Classes start later today for me. _I screwed up. Classes start Oct 6. But I don't know if I'll have Chapter 3 ready by then._ So, while I will always adore the cries for updates, do not expect anything until Christmas break. And I work the Christmas season dawn to dusk outside til the day itself, so I mean the _end_ of Christmas break. So sorry, but I shall return!

Follow me as MiraNova23 on tumblr for the Tangled Fandom, chats, my other fanworks, and general Disnerdiness.


	3. Chapter 3: Tangled vs The Sandworm

**A/N:** Christmas went about as well as Hiccup  & his dad get along before HTTYD1's climax. Anyway. YES, I am always busting at the seams to tell all about what means what, or what is referencing what, how I feel about my own writing, & I still have outdated thoughts about what the characters think of _me_... Ask me! Anywhere. Please?

Reminder: Still Rated M for more reasons.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Tangled vs The Sandworm**

The heat had driven their bodies apart during the night. But with the predawn chill, Rapunzel had pulled claim over nearly the whole blanket. Eugene lay sprawled on his back, with his nearer arm bent above his head, and the other resting over his stomach. The blanket pulled taut across his knees diagonally, til it reached the cocoon Rapunzel had wrapped herself up in. She lay folded up in a comfortable fetal position, facing him.

Rapunzel found consciousness first, but just barely. A draft from the window at her back reached her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. _Wait- my neck?_ Eyes still closed, she reached a hand up to her neck. She brushed the new tips of her hair. _OH._ She opened her eyes, suddenly remembering the trauma from the day prior, and scariness of the day ahead.

Right in front of her eyes though, Eugene's bare flesh took up most of her vision, as she merely peeped out of the covers below. _Everything about him is so different... Like, I can see more of his muscles than my own._ His chest slowly rose and fell. Besides the great abundance of, and slightly darker, hair she had already noticed on his arms, this was also the case on his side. Although here it tapered off from his chest and abs as it neared his back. His armpit though, that huge tuft caught her attention. She wriggled the top of the blanket down from her shoulders and leaned up on her elbows.

Now she could finally see over his bicep to his face, which lolled to the side toward her, into his shoulder. She rested her head on her hand and poked a thumbnail in between her teeth as she studied him. She remembered the sadness from this time yesterday as she similarly looked down on him. How much difference there was, thankfully. The color in his cheeks, the twitch of eyelashes, comfortably closed mouth, and the flare of his nose as he breathed.

 _Should I wake him? I don't know, but..._ She reached out to smooth his bangs out along his temples. _He really is beautiful..._

The corner of his mouth tugged up a bit, then the other side slowly followed. He started to open his eyes, but they merely fluttered before the light drove them back closed. His mind had yet to comprehend the morning as she had, and so sought to retreat back to sleep.

Rapunzel blurted out a little chortle at him.

At that, Eugene's brow bounced up for a moment, before he took a deep breath and tried to open his eyes again, and failed. But he was awake now. Awake, and successfully holding back the flood of random predictions about the day with simply overpowering _No_ 's. He took another deep breath which quickly morphed into a yawn. "Hey..." he croaked out lazily, forcing one eye to open towards her. He stretched his legs out; one then the other joined as he arched his back up and twisted slightly, trying to crack it.

She bemusedly let her gaze wander down his body.

His eyes had closed again. A slit in his shorts was just being pushed open by a prominent bulge. It was morning. The covers were down to his knees. And he was the first man she had ever seen- _was_ ever seeing.

 _Is that-?_ "AAAH!" Rapunzel yelled out as if she'd just seen a snake or just been plunged into darkness.

Eugene's eyes shot wide open. "WHAT, WHAT!" He bolted up, leaning back up on his elbows. He glanced all around the room, but found they were still perfectly alone.

Rapunzel kicked her way out of the blanket, and nearly fell onto the floor as she clambered out of the bed and fixed her silky blue nightgown. "EU _GENE_?!"

Eugene darted his attention back to her, and saw that her eyes were locked on him. Unblinking, he followed her line of sight to his groin. "FUCK!" He pushed up to sitting with his legs straight out in front of him. The fight-or-flight adrenaline had killed the problem anyway.

"Pascal?" Rapunzel had dashed to the end of the bed to the bag. "Where's the frying pan?"

Eugene was pulling his legs up to sit pretzel style, when her supposed plan of action caused an all new panic. "Whoa! Hey? Blondie!" He kept pulling himself closer up into a ball til he was crouching atop his own pillow with his knees up to his chin, nearly naked, hands down to protect himself, and turned away from her.

She found the frying pan, and brandished it like a bat. "What-"

"Ho- oh- Hold on! Rapunzel, _please!_ " He held a hand up defensively between them. "It's just _ME!_ "

"NO," she persisted angrily, "What was THAT?!" She pointed with the pan towards his lower half.

"It- _that_ IS _me_ ," he spat out, getting more annoyed than anything. He glared at her. "You can hit my head all ya like, but you canNOT hit me _here_. So just, _calm down,_ aright?"

She took an exaggeratedly deep breath for show, but shook her head. _"No._ Explain."

Eugene groaned and rolled his eyes. "You said I'm the first man you've ever seen, right?"

Hesitantly, she answered. "Yes..." _So is what she said true? Is it 'all men?'_

He sighed again and dropped his forehead to rest on his knee. _You're worried about your parents hanging me, yet here you're gonna club me into a eunuch?!_ After a few more deep breaths, he began again, much calmer himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to be your introduction." He sighed yet again, then turned back to her. "Will you please put that thing down?"

Rapunzel was taken aback by his request. She scoffed and reaffirmed her hold on it.

"Rapunzel." He was still serious, but made sure it came out careful and level. "You're not a child anymore."

The shock of such a statement directed towards her softened her expression, much to her surprise.

"Comon," he motioned for her to come back towards the bed, to drop the weapon and to sit. "I didn't hurt you before, did I? Last night?" he asked rhetorically.

Shocked again, she slowly lowered the pan in front of her. She looked down at it and shook her head. "No, you didn't." A smile sprung to her face. _Last night was amazing..._

He breathed a sigh of relief and mirrored her smile. "And I'm not _going to_ hurt you."

She looked back to him pensively. "Well," she had to look away again. "I know, but..." _But if any of what she's said is true, then oh you COULD hurt me, and that alone is scary!_

"You told me I could trust you, like when you first healed my hand, you remember? I had never seen anything like that before. And that's exactly what I'm doing now. I'm asking you trust me."

She frowned, but finally allowed them to keep eye contact again. _He did save me._

"Rapunzel, you know I'm not gonna do anything to you." His brow furrowed. "Come on," he motioned with his head this time. " _Relax._ Just sit down and let me explain. Okay?"

Anytime he directed her to 'calm down' or 'relax,' she was pretty sure it had the opposite effect. _But he is reassuring otherwise._ She bit her lip. "Well, I suppose, I could sit while you explain..."

"Promise you won't hurt me?"

Rapunzel guffawed. "What?"

He smirked shyly. "It's actually the most delicate part of a man."

She wrinkled her face in confusion and disbelief.

"So, actually, I guess," he dipped his head and shrugged his shoulders, "IF any guy ever tries to hurt you, kick em in the- in, right there, okay?" He pointed down between his knees.

She chuckled. "Okay," she set the frying pan down on the bed. She swung one leg up onto the edge and sat down herself, hands in her lap. "I'm listening."

He smiled goofily. "Okay, yeah, where to begin," he looked down. "Uh, well..." He grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it up to his waist, as he faced her and resituated into a cross-legged sitting position. He thought a moment before reasserting eye contact, however worried he looked. "Do you know what sex is?"

She barely hesitated. "Um, yeah," but she still looked confused. "Like whether you're a man or a woman."

"Well, that's one meaning of it," he shrugged again. "There's the _act_ of, uh-" his eyes had to leave hers to say the word, "Sex, and then there's the difference between a man and a woman." He tried to force a chuckle. "Some _more adult_ novels even use 'sex' as a euphemism, instead of actually saying um," his eyes retreated once more. "'Vagina' for a woman, or, for a man, it's called a 'penis.'" _Where is my train of thought going with this? Yeah, sure, erotica is my reference for explaining birds and the bees to the Princess!_ He frowned at himself. _Talk about what gutter trash I am..._ He looked back to study her face for a reaction. He leaned over and gestured with one hand. "Anyway, are you getting any of this?"

She was staring at his blanket-covered knee, rather blankly. "Oh, um, I guess." She looked away for a moment, then back to him. "So, I know, what I have-" she blushed as she stuttered, "Is a- what a woman has, but..." Her eyes were drawn back to his center, still shielded by his hands. "Do all men have that?"

He nodded, "Yeah," then gulped.

Rapunzel's expression fell to nearly hopeless disappointment, and just dropped her head to stare into her lap. "I just thought," she shrugged, "That since _you_ didn't have pointy teeth, and you were so nice, that you didn't have _that_ , either."

 _Well, at least some of her fears of the world aren't all irrational._ "Well..." He suddenly felt the grossness and guilt come back, from countless times in taverns when he had been assumed to be no better than the ravaging, uncouth, jerks he'd witnessed. It had cost him nothing extra to sweet-talk, however sleazily, a willing barmaid for himself, rather than to harass or force them as some others had. His past had been a trail littered with as many girls as those fairytale breadcrumbs, though he never followed them back. Most just knew he wasn't good enough to keep around. A few girls had been left crying, but only from broken hearts that had latched onto unrequited dreams. He always comforted his own actions with the knowledge that it could be worse for them. "Yeah, men do have an awful reputation, don't we?"

Rapunzel lifted her eyes to meet his again, in silent agreement. _Doesn't get much lower than the Underworld._

Eugene sighed. "But at it's most basic, I mean really, a penis does the same thing as a vagina." Her expression twisted, but he continued. "Both are how you go to the bathroom, and both are used for sex." He kept eye contact this time, but grimaced. "Just that one's an innie, like yours, and mine's an outie." He chuckled at himself for that, and she joined in as well.

"Hm, okay." _That does seem pretty simple._ "But, is there anything else?" _What ELSE does yours do..._ Her brow furrowed.

"Yeah," he tried to smile again. "Yeah, there's a lot more..." He looked down to twiddle his fingers together. "Why don't you, um," he looked her in the eye again. "Why don't you tell me what Gothel had told you, first?"

"Um, well..." Rapunzel chuckled uneasily. She brought her other leg up onto the bed, curled up to the side while she leaned on her arm. "It was one of those things she never wanted to talk about. Basically just that it was evil," she spaced out staring into nothing in the direction of his knee again. She scoffed a little. "Well, _anything_ about men was all evil. But there was this thing like a wand, she said, that was like, a 'key to opening the Underworld.' That it could 'disturb spirits...'" She shook her head. "But I don't know what she really meant by it all. I tried piecing it together with other spells and rituals from my studies, but it never made any real sense." She sighed with a smile. "So I just imagined it was just a dark wand to summon ghosts or the Boogeyman. But at some point I did get from her somehow that it was like, located around _there._ " She looked back up to Eugene.

He was trying very, very hard to not look at her like he thought she was crazy. "Um, okay," he tried to respond. "That is,really _weird._ " _And... pagan..._ he cringed to himself.

Rapunzel immediately pursed her lips, licked them, and pulled her knees up to her chin as he had before, and wrapped her arms around them. Her knees moved entirely within her nightgown, now giving it the appearance of a small tent with only toes sticking out. "Well," she tried to laugh it off, "I guess, yeah, and with everything else she lied and exaggerated about..." Her nervousness quickly faded into despair. "But if she lied about these things, then what else is there that I only _think_ I know?"

"Whoa, hey there, Little Socrates," he beamed at her, as he reached forward to touch her leg. "You're already so smart. You're just missing a couple pieces of information, that's all. 'N I'll always be here to help you." _Wait- what the fuck- oh shit, no- why did I say 'always?!'_

She didn't flinch at his touch as she thought she might. No, instead, he warmed her. She smiled to him.

 _DEFLECT!_ He sat back up straight. "So, uh, first of all, all that hocus-pocus isn't real."

"But that's what I mean," she groaned. " _MY_ magic is real."

 _As is my postponed religious crisis- incidentally, where WAS Peter?! -but this is neither the time nor the place._ "But there aren't any _shadows_ running around, stealing _hearts_ or whatever; no ' _key_ to other worlds.'"

"Hrmph," she smirked. "There might be."

Eugene folded his hands and hunched forward, elbows on his knees. He smirked. "We're getting off the subject."

Rapunzel giggled at the face he made. She covered her mouth with her hands and kicked her feet back and forth a little. _This is my favorite thing about Eugene- just a human friend who wants to teach me so many things! And he is just adorable, too, ah! It all makes me so giddy!_

She likewise drew Eugene in to smile widely at her cuteness. "Com'ere, you," he growled playfully as he reached out and tugged her arms away from her legs. As he pulled back, he let them go and patted her pillow beside him. "Comon, si' down." His eyes softened from playfully twinkling to somberly _trying_ to look happy. "I actually did want to talk to you about this before you get back to the castle."

He watched her as she crawled over and plopped down right beside him, their knees almost touching. "About what?" she chirped.

"Well," he pulled his shoulders in to make himself smaller, less assuming, more distant. "About sex." He winced and shrugged, but looked to her.

She met his eyes, then glanced away for a second, expecting him to continue. "Well?"

"Um, okay," he looked straight down into his lap again. _Good ol' cliché?_ "When a man and a woman l-" _No. NO._ His heart screamed suddenly. _My Love is the little Princess who will not get to be with the man_ she _LOVES..._ He shook his head and waved his hands in front to dismiss the idea. _Nevermind. Hopefully, she WILL end up with someone she'll love. Just, stick to biology._ "It's when, well, remember how I said men and women have opposite parts there? An innie and an outie?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's... to make a baby."

"A baby?" Her interest was piqued. Her smile revitalized and brow raised. _Gothel always said it was some kind of magic I couldn't do, but a dark magic at that._

He smiled at her enthusiasm. _Wait what could she even know about babies, ugh this is hard._ "Yeah. Sorry, I don't know how much you would know about any of this, but a baby actually starts out growing in a woman's belly." Again he checked her reaction.

She merely glanced away for moment with slight perplexity, but remained interested.

"Er, for 9 months. Til it's a tiny lil bundle," he crossed into a baby voice, and mimed cradling one, "Hardly any bigger than a small sack of flour. Just a cute lil sweet thing... But yeah," he dropped his hands and smiled too dreamily- then he remembered himself and cleared his throat. "A tiny person."

"Hm... Gothel always told me that she found me in the grass on the cliffside, just like a 'flower,' like she calls me. Or would call me- _called_ me." She sighed. "I guess she did _find_ me somewhere though... Anyway, I'm sorry," she turned back to Eugene, who was patiently absorbing her exposition as well. "It grows for 9 months in the woman's belly, and then what?"

"Well _that_ part is pretty painful," he winced, "The baby knows when it's done growing inside enough, and it gets pushed out of the woman- B-but it's perfectly natural. All people start out like that, every single person ever."

"How... I mean, where-?" _Gah, why do I keep asking him such stupid questions! I feel like I can tell him anything, but I really should keep my mouth shut more..._ She pursed her lips and smiled nervously.

He looked back to her and smiled. "Huh, you actually are pretty mature about this, aren't you?"

She chuckled and shrugged. "I guess?"

"You are." He resumed his eye lock on his lap. "So, now _don't freak out,_ " he bumped her elbow. "But the baby actually comes out of the woman's vagina- er, the um, the middle part."

"Oh." She leaned back in just slight surprise, at the revelation, and that he even knew that much about women's bodies. "But even that part- it's still kinda small though, isn't it?" _Ugh- No, stop it, he always answers my questions._

Eugene shrugged and smirked. "I only know so much about the many mysteries that women pull off."

Rapunzel giggled a little. _Okay, well, he always_ tries _to answer my questions._

He took a deep breath. "Now, how about how the baby starts growing in the first place?" He arched his brow high and glanced over to her.

"Um, I dunno, a potion? An incantation?" She smirked.

" _No,_ " he guffawed. "It, ah..." He paused as they fell serious. "The... The um..." _Quit stalling and just say it already!_ He had been trying very hard, and succeeding, in ignoring his own physiology as they spoke. But now he became too keenly aware of his body, and hers beside him. All that separated them were a nightgown and his shorts. With his top half completely exposed, he suddenly felt more naked than he had in over a decade, as if he were a pubescent boy again trying to tell a girl how much he liked her. He squeezed his elbows together in front of himself more, trying to feel some cover. _God yes I do want TO- but as soon as I say what it is, she'll start_ asking _about ME- the fuck am I supposed to say?_ He closed his eyes.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel asked, both confused and worried.

"The penis goes in the vagina."

In the silent stillness that followed, he expected her to unleash Hell itself to devour him whole. Although, he was not entirely sure he was against the idea.

She blinked a few times, mulling over the finished puzzle. The abstract parts themselves clicked in her mind, but then so did much more. _If all men have those, and she wanted to keep me away from men especially, it's because she didn't_ want _me to have a baby..._ She hung her head, sullen. "Gothel always said I wasn't 'meant' to have children."

"What?" his embarrassment gone, his attention darted to her. "Don't say that!" She started at his resolve. " _Of course_ you were meant to have children." _I totally would say 'if you want,' but Corona needs heirs.._

"Well, sure, but..." She stared into his concerned eyes. _Babies? Families?_ She sighed and shrugged, "I really do know nothing."

He sighed and smirked at her. "That's why I'm telling you about it. _So that you_ know." He rubbed his neck. "Now that the blatantly awkward part is out in the open, uh, heh, there's a few more details."

Bemused, Rapunzel half smiled at him. "Go on."

"So, that's the whole family cycle there. Once someone is about your age," he gulped, "They get married. And that's the person they, have sex with- supposed to be the only person. Um..." Suddenly he tucked his neck in. He'd asked her to marry him before she knew it meant this type of promise. _But I wouldn't have, like- I just wanted her to know I'd protect her._ He cleared his throat and continued. "That's what marriage is, that those two people promise each other and God to only be with that person for the rest of their lives. To protect them, honor them, and, yeah, that they're only going to have sex with each other. Because, that means that eventually, you'll have babies, that are made up from stuff from each of you, and then you raise them together, usually, til they've grown up themselves, and they go off." He cycled his hand around in a loop. "And so on, and so on..."

She smiled. Cycles she understood. And his explanation had a nice symmetry to it, unlike her own upbringing. She knew of a Goddess, so God, who he spoke of, must be her opposite, _her_ marriage partner, perhaps? _Marriage... Oh. OH!_ She sat up straighter in a bit of shock. "Eugene! You-!"

He locked eyes with her, but merely raised his brow expectantly. He was caught, and she could tell.

She gasped. "You... _really?!_ " Her hand flew to her heart. _ALL that?_ "You want to do _all that_ with me? _Only_ with _me_?"

He dipped his head toward her. " _That's_ my new dream." _Is it lying if I omit the part where I can't though? -oh, yeah... whoops._

Rapunzel folded her legs up and hugged them, rocking back and forth a little, as a wildfire of blush consumed her face. "And," she giggled a little, "That sounds like it'd be mine, too."

Eugene could not help the painful, embarrassed, but honest smile that overtook him as he watched her.

She looked down and buried her blushing face against her knees, but still eyed him out the side. "Isn't it- I mean sex- Isn't that kind of, intimate? I mean, you'd have to get so close," she giggled, "And I mean, how does that work? That's what you said you originally wanted to talk about, right?"

"I did." He nodded. "And well, intimate? We've already been _emotionally_ intimate with each other. Sex is, well it _is_ rather physically intimate."

Rapunzel popped her head up toward him, "Hmm, we were pretty _physically intimate_ last night. Hmm?"

He laughed as he closed his eyes and let his head droop. "Exactly like last night."

Suddenly she was taken aback. "Wait-"

But he picked his head back up just as quick. "No, no, I mean- hoh, No, that is NOT what we did last night." She relaxed with a deep breath. He continued, "Stuff like that is, people do stuff like that either _instead of_ sex, or leading up to it. But yeah, intimate on both counts."

"Oh..." she stated blankly.

 _'Oh'? Just 'Oh'? Is that a good 'Oh' or a bad 'Oh'?_ She hesitated too long, so he started blathering. "I'm sorry- I knew it was all too much for you in one day, and-"

"Eugene, it's-" She reached her hand out to him.

"-you didn't even know, but I mean how-"

" _Eugene._ " He finally stopped and looked her in the eye. She was smiling. "It's alright," she chuckled. "I liked, _that stuff._ " She nudged him with her elbow.

Like a machine, her nudge popped a smile onto his face, though he still sighed through it. "Rapunzel, I know you're certainly not ready to 'go all the way,' as the expression is."

"Well, why not?" Her urge to run headlong into exploring overtook any residual fears.

"Well, your first time is supposed to be special. In the Church, your first time is supposed to be the night of your wedding."

 _'The Church' have something to do with Corona I guess?_ "So, 'someday?'" _I HATE 'someday's..._

He subtly glanced to the opposite direction of her for the first time. "Yeah, someday." _Don't. Don't get sad. She_ will _notice._ "Ah, for me, though," he nodded back towards her while still looking down, "Well, sorry to say, I've already had my first time many years ago. Had plenty of other girls' first times, too." _I can be a fucking jerk but I'll be damned if I don't use it to help protect you._

Her smile faltered. _Wait, what?_

"But never married." He looked up to her, to see the hurt threatening to spread across her face. "Oh, Sweetie!" he rushed his hand on her shoulder. "No, no. Sex doesn't always end up being with someone you love. It's best when you're in love, but I- I wasn't, not really, I guess..."

She was staunched for the moment. "And babies?"

"No," he shook his head, "No babies either. It doesn't create a baby every single time, plus there are things you can do to make it less likely." He watched her take it in, but was unable to read her beyond confusion. _I need to explain myself._ "I never wanted a baby with anyone before. I never wanted to stay with anyone before. Well, maybe a few, but they didn't wanna stay with me, and would've ended up bad news anyway. I just did it 'cause," he shrugged. "Just 'cause it feels good." His one hand remained on her shoulder, while his other cupped her cheek to keep her chin up towards him. "But you..." her eyes entranced him, "I love you, Blondie." _Dammit no I was supposed to keep it neutral! Why'd I go explaining that. That's enough._ He flashed a weak smile. "Do you understand?"

 _He looks so concerned..._ She smiled and nodded against his palm. "You really have been up to no good for a long time, hm?"

His smile returned as well. "Eh, well," he shrugged it off. "That's how I know so much." He reclined back against the wall and straightened his legs out, sure to keep the covers above waist level, though all was flat again down there again.

Rapunzel watched his bare arms flex, how the abs of his torso moved and how his chest barely did. Those were all questions for another time, apparently.

Eugene held one arm out as an invitation. "Cuddle?"

Her blush returned. As best she could figure, she slouched down atop his arm, and against his side. Her head tentatively rested in his shoulder. _He still smells like his leather, well, and sweat and dirt._ His other arm quickly appeared, crossed her, and together they squeezed her against him. A giggle erupted out of her, though she took the opportunity to venture laying her hand on his ribs. He was warm, and surprisingly soft and smooth. His crossed over hand began running down her arm, and just as she thought to pull her hand away from feeling his side, he covered it and held her there.

He kissed her temple. "I just don't want you to be afraid of men- well, strange men, yes, be very wary of, but-"

" _You_ were a strange man."

He scoffed. "Yes, and, you tied me to a chair." They shared a laugh, before he sighed again. His arms remained secure around her. _Time for the important kicker._ "Rapunzel, there _is_ this myth, that women have to bleed the first time they have sex, and that it's supposed to be painful. But it's just a myth. Even though a lot of people still believe it..." He brushed his fingers along her arm.

"Why does everyone still believe it, then?"

"To scare people off it."

"Ah," she frowned and nodded. _Now who have I seen do that before._

"And well, it _can_ hurt, and sometimes it is bad enough for the woman to bleed. Not like your cycle, but like a wound."

 _He knows about women's cycles? He knows everything!_ "But it shouldn't?"

"No, it shouldn't. If at least one of you knows what you're doing, and you're careful, it shouldn't hurt. It should feel as completely amazing as last night. If it hurts, at all, then something's wrong. You got that?"

"Hmm, yeah. But you said _you_ know what you're doing, in that respect, right?"

"Yeah, but I mean..." he gulped. "It's just stuff you should know." He chuckled to himself, "When I first learned about all this, I still thought girls were _ewwy._ "

She chuckled with him again.

"Just don't be afraid to ask me about anything, okay?"

Rapunzel gasped a little. _That's it exactly!_ Her brow furrowed but she smiled at that, the best part of all: telling her she could ask him anything. She gripped at his side a little, bracing herself to open up. "Okay," she hummed nervously. "So, like..." she began, but ended up giggling, at what, she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was the novelty of such intimacy, and the implications; memories of the night just before, and the possibilities of the future; and putting it all into words to communicate about what they were _both_ feeling to a man, _this man,_ that caused her to blush as well.

"What?" he asked, hoping to be let in on what was so funny to her.

"Um, ya know, so, _last night..._ " she stuttered but then tried to be sultry, to varying success. "How do you do that? For yourself, I mean."

He froze. "Oh, ummm..." Now he blushed and started giggling. "Do I have to answer that one?"

"Eugene!" She turned to lean more fully on him, to climb up his chest, closer to his smirking face. "You _just_ said I could ask you anything!"

"Ugh," he rolled his eyes away, while his smile only grew. When he looked back to her, he froze up again at how close they were.

She seemed stunned as well, just a breath away as she lay on his chest.

He blinked a few times and his lips twitched toward her, but did not quite think moving forward a good idea.

Rapunzel suffered much less hesitation here. She rushed in to capture his mouth.

And he was happy to be had. His arms moved to hold her up and pull her closer, to run over her back and arms, knowing she could never be close enough. But if he could at least hold this moment – kissing her in the sweet morning sunlight, filtering in through a dusty haze around them – then maybe he could survive.

She clamored her arms up to around his neck, pulling him closer to her as well. However much exploring his bare skin made her nervous, it was too intriguing to not _want_ to touch more of. He had touched her so, _sensually_ , last night, that she just _had_ to learn what his was like. He had assured her it was perfectly safe, and she knew she could trust him. She wanted those amazing feelings back from last night. Not necessarily the physical one she knew, but the rush of excitement from getting so _intimate_ with another _person._ Especially with _this_ remarkable person! She moaned into his mouth, unable to quite harness her urges.

Eugene's brow raised and he could not help but peak at her. _She's like... pure bliss... And she's in pure bliss._ He decided to play a little tongue combat with her – but suddenly, he was aware of her pushing off one of his arms. _Huh?_ He complied, but she merely ran her hand down his arm to his wrist, and grabbed hold of it. _Um, okay. Not planning on movin any faster than you, but okay._

She had to _know._ And if this was what studying and learning from him felt like, oh, she never wanted class to end. She needed to know him more, like he already knew her. Carefully, she lay his hand on his abdomen, then matched hers atop it, and slowly, started moving it down.

He broke the kiss. "Rah-Blondie," he panted as he could not decide which name he'd miss calling her more, "What're you..." His mind went to full alarm, but also began losing most functionality.

Rapunzel leaned back a bit, a little dazed herself, to question him. "Don't you want to?"

He melted, as much as he hated himself for it. With his brow all knotted, he nodded. "I do." Deep down, he knew he would regret it either way: missing his only chance to be with the Princess, or having had _only_ one chance with her. _Damn it... I'm totally losing control of this situation, though..._

She resumed the kiss, making him whimper in surprise and worry, but she sucked his tongue away and he subsided. He winced, concentrating his hardest to remain on beginner mode for her. He surrendered control of his hand to her, while the other dug in to grip gently at her hair. _Fuck... fuck... fuck...!_ Their hands crept lower and lower.

She noted the defined trail of hair leading down, over a tenser belly, down to below where the blanket covered. She inhaled sharply, and decided to start above the blanket. Another moment, and his hand was fully over himself. Her slender fingers perched perfectly atop his, not actually feeling anything but his hand. All she could make out was that the terrain underneath was squishy. The deathly embarrassing notion she was still basically touching someone's most private part lit her cheeks aflame.

Eugene sensed her apprehension as she froze up, and he twisted his way out of the kiss. "You okay?" He asked as he touched their foreheads together.

"Yeah," she panted. "I just have no idea what..."

"Do you want me to...?" He turned his hand to hold her fingers, but still separating her from feeling him.

"Yeah," she repeated. _Great idea, you do it, oh my Goddess, I have no idea what I'm doing! How did he ever learn about girls so well! I just want to- to- to- I don't know! But I want HIM!_

He kissed her again, but immediately relinquished control of his lips to her bidding. Down below, though, he stroked his fingers over hers as he switched hers to the bottom, against himself. It immediately twitched; he moaned, but Rapunzel withdrew her hand with a gasp.

"It's alright," he reassured her, as shaky as his voice was.

"Sorry," she whined.

"No," he shook his head against her forehead. He gasped to try to slow his heart rate, any air of dignity completely gone. "It gets hard and a lil longer when I get excited- and just when I wake up in the morning like you saw before. Think of it like a muscle or something. That's blood rushing to it-"

"'Cause you're 'excited?'" she mused.

"Yeah," his breathing still heavy. "'Aroused.'" He smiled as his brain automatically threw out the synonym as it was losing proper social control. "Not just like, 'ooh, you made me pancakes'-excited, but like, heh, 'there's this gorgeous woman I love wearing only her nightgown in bed with me and she's touching me...'-excited." He pecked her grinning lips once again. "Heh, you know what I mean?"

"Hmm, I think I'm starting to." She rubbed their noses together, eliciting a giggle from him, before rejoining their lips. _I will_ never _get enough of kissing him..._

 _Though I guess it spooked her too much down there. Guess that's over._ He brought his hand back up to cup her soft cheek.

"Mm-mm," Rapunzel hummed unexpectedly.

Eugene retreated at the negative sound, though confused as to why she also sounded amused. "What now?"

"Show me." She smirked and recaptured him under her spell quickly enough with her recently learned bedroom eyes. The wind left him as she took his hand back. A deep breath herself, and she placed it back over him with barely a flinch this time. His eyes drooped closed and every breath became heavy, as she ever so delicately ran her hand over and around. Even through the blanket and his shorts, the fact that _she_ was doing it drove him crazy.

" _Blondie..._ " Now would be when he latched on to the girl's throat and sucked till he'd left marks to remember him by when he was long gone, or perhaps for another man to simply have known of his presence. He would not need to think one bit as he just poured out any primal urge she milked from him. But, no. This was the princess, whom, though he would still have to leave, he could not leave his imprint on beyond her heart and mind. Swollen lips would have to do. His hand still near her neck propelled them together much as she first had. She parted her lips as other times, but he shrugged that away in favor of sucking and nipping on one lip, then the other, and back, til he knew the tingle would remain at least past this morning. He would still find a way to be on her lips, to comfort her after her sure-to-be ill-fated attempt to speak to her parents on his behalf. Really though, who knew? Her hair had saved him, her tears had saved him, perhaps these lips could save him as well. She would make him out to be a hell of a guy, a hero. He believed neither, but regardless, he would worship them for trying.

Rapunzel could scarcely focus on only one thing or the other. She had ground to a full halt below, though her mere presence was enough to still encourage its growth. His hand had resumed its spot above hers, guiding it and moving her fingers into just the right spots to press, and where to glide along from there.

This was getting to be too much for the blanket to be in the way. Eugene released her mouth. "Rapunzel... Either you need to leave or I need to get these shorts off."

"No, I want to see you," she blurted. "Promise I won't freak out," she giggled, both from the fond memory of an inside joke they already shared, and proud of herself for not being scared anymore.

"Okay, just... Stop if you wanna stop. It's okay." _Although she's probably too stubborn to stop._ Eugene released her completely as he tossed off the blanket, and, with only slight hesitation for her benefit, slid his shorts down and kicked them away.

Rapunzel predictably drew her arms into herself, eyes wide and fixed on what she could only compare to a snake. _Calm down, no, it's Eugene and he would never hurt me. That's the very same thing I just felt, just out in the light... to see how gross it looks. Or, actually, I guess it also looks like a sausage... That'd be a nice way to think of it, yeah._ She blushed and smiled back face to face with him, especially once she noticed he looked uneasy and almost shy himself. She rejoined their lips, and placed her hand back at his hip, to show she was still in this.

He noticeably relaxed, and softly reunited their hands. He had to let her know and keep her assured she could withdraw at any point. Although, he had come to hope she would not, while another part of him wracked up the guilt for so soon spoiling such a perfectly innocent maiden. Not only a virgin, but one completely ignorant of so much in life. _No – Innocent my ass. Still... do I ruin everything I touch? And everyone I meet..._ His thoughts from drowning in the cave resurfaced. He caressed her fingers more at his hip, then finally, pushed them to move. _Better me than some other douchebag._

She inhaled sharply as she felt his own coarse, curly hairs.

He peaked at her again and loosened his grip further. They lingered there a moment, then at last cut the suspense. He guided her over but another inch, where just two of her fingertips brushed his shaft. But she did not flinch this time. He broke the kiss again and cursed himself for moving her too quickly in what, three days? Four. _Fuck the kingdom, this should have been months from now, married._ "Talk to me, Blondie."

She giggled. "About what?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed, completely at ease now. "It's warm. And your hair's just like mine."

"Yeah." He brushed his cheek against hers. Below, he delicately scooted her hand over more and more, til her whole palm and fingers stretched down its length. He picked his head back up to worriedly look her in the eye. _God, gorgeous..._ "You okay?"

She had been watching their hands, trying to get over shyness at every second. He was helping, and she was succeeding. But she locked eyes with him again. "Yeah... I actually am..." She smiled at him. _He's beautiful..._

"Then, ready to see how it's really done?" he asked, concerned.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Wait, what, sex? No no no, uh..." She tensed.

"No no no – no..." He flashed a smile at her lack of nuanced pillow talk. "I just mean this. Um, masturbation, it's called. What you, and then I, did last night. Well, that's called fingering, and this would be a handjob." _Let's learn to crawl before you try to sache._

Just when she thought she would need to write down all this terminology, he spit in his hand. "EW! What-!?"

But Eugene was unperturbed. "I don't get wet on my own like you do." She moved her hand aside and just watched. He slathered it all along and then around the shaft, then gripped it, continuing to stroke it up and down lazily. Looking almost drugged, he nuzzled her cheek to look back to him. "Do you still want to?"

"But you just spit on it!"

He grabbed at her mouth with his. She happily obliged, and he ran his tongue quickly along hers. "And now you've _tasted_ my spit. So?"

They both giggled. _Okay, point._ "Well, you're still going to have to help me."

"That's fine." He smiled as he trailed kisses along her cheek. His hand took hers again, and guided her small fingers to wrap around and underneath. He moaned as he felt his way back to her lips, but he remembered himself and merely brushed them together briefly. "I love you, Rapunzel. You don't have to do this – If you want to stop, at anytime, then just take your hand away. But I'm gonna keep going myself regardless, okay? Do you understand?" He sounded serious and urgent.

"Eugene, I want to, for you to show me how to make _you_ feel amazing, too."

 _Fuck... No one's ever known me as- she said my name. My real name._ He felt a pang at his eyes. _If we ever did have sex I'd probably literally cry, wouldn't I..._ He smiled wistfully anyway and kissed her as he gripped his hand fully around hers. Slowly, he began to glide them up and down.

She sighed as she tried to settle into a rhythm with him. "Um, does that, feel good?" she stuttered out.

"Heh, yeah..." he moaned.

Down there, she focused on getting to know him better. She noted its width was about that of a sausage as well, that fit comfortably in her hand. Meaty, veiny, with skin that seemed to slide a little loosely itself; she smiled through the kiss. _Not scary at all._ She felt that he had been rubbing his thumb over the mushroom-like tip with each go. She ventured this move herself, which cause him to falter completely as he gasped. He leaned back to look at her, surprised. She merely gaped back expectantly. He obeyed and began again, gripping her hand tighter and this time taking her over the tip with him.

He was quickly reaching his limit, being the morning, and especially with the lone thought of her. His face burrowed into her shoulder, then down to her chest. Kisses trailed behind him. Breathing came in only hot gasps. She buried her face in his thick hair, one of the sources of the sweetness in his scent as well, she determined.

"Mrgh – Blondie... Rapunzel," he moaned, pushing further into her bosom, "I'm gonna come."

"Huh?"

 _Fuck... her word?_ "Finish."

"Oh," she blushed.

His moans strained and his chest heaved more and more. He threw his head back to the wall, and darted his other hand to grip the forearm she was using. "Fuuuuuck," he quietly growled.

Rapunzel watched his face, much to her dismay and confusion. _He looks like he's in pain!_ His teeth were clenched, nose scrunched, and eyes screwed shut. "Eugene?"

There was his natural born name again, sounding so sweet on those lovely lips, wrought with worry. He squeezed her forearm tighter, then snatched it away and shoved her aside a bit. He doubled over himself, and caught the product in the handkerchief again. His moans shuddered through his rippling body, standing every nerve on edge. Any noises he was making devolved to sighs as his brain went blurry and nothing else about his body mattered. Handkerchief tossed to the floor again, he finally collapsed. He flopped back onto his side, hands feeling their way to her. He could not tell if he was still moaning, or why, but his eyes could not open and his mouth hung open.

Rapunzel herded his limp hands together into hers and tangled them all up in her lap. She was not sure if she understand the subtle differences in what just happened, but she chuckled at how silly it seemed. Judgment could hold out til this poor crumpled lump explained.

The hazy morning light played a pleasant melodic buzz in his ears. The rush had flooded out all feeling of connection to his body. Eugene squirmed around til his head was under her arm and on her abdomen, with his legs curled up to her knees. "Mmm... Blondie," he smiled stupidly.

She giggled. "Eugene, you're ridiculous! What are you doing?"

"Gimme a min," he gargled out drowsily but happily.

She ran a hand through his hair, eliciting a new string of super sensitive squeals from him, and more giggles from her. "Are you alright though? I didn't hurt you before, did I?"

He merely grinned wider. "No," he sighed, "No... this is perfect." Somehow at the declaration of 'perfect,' he felt it all slipping away again. _No, just let me hold onto this moment forever._ His smile faded and unfortunately his eyes opened to face reality again. He saw their hands woven around each others in her lap. He squeezed hers, rubbing his thumbs over them. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said cheerily again. "But I'm not sure I got what _all_ of that was about."

"Ah, yeah... That's the- the um, with the back and forth like, and then that's what _would_ go to, um..." he tried to reply as he sat back up, much to her amusement. "Um, like, you..." he motioned with one hand's index finger and the other making an O. "Ya get it?"

" _Ohhh."_ Rapunzel's smile burned up into a puckering blush, fully understanding of what he meant. She spied that the length that had been there was gone, and all was once again small and squishy. But, something was oozing out of it.

Eugene chuckled with her, then noticed her inquiring stare. "Ah crap..." He wiped it away with just his hand. Before she could even ask, he continued. "That's the stuff that comes out when I finish, that _would_ go to start making a baby, if it came out inside of a woman. So that's how you would-"

"Oh!" she actually cut him off, "So you just don't finish, like, while you'd be inside?"

"Yeah," he answered, amazed at how quick she was. His own mind started racing again. _Yeah, great, lemme just detail all the different sorts of contraception you and your prince could use for a few years, anything else your friggen highness? Goddammit..._

She on the other hand, could not seem to believe the progress she must have just conquered. Knees pulled up under her and to the side, one arm up and playing with the ends of her hair behind her ear; her cheeks glowed as she bit her lip, eying all the rest of him up again. She could hardly stop giggling or blushing.

One look back to her smile and his spirit warmed back over. He rolled over onto his stomach and pulled himself up beside her. A natural smolder came over him as he brushed her cheek, then hooked his hand around her neck to pull her to his face for just one more sensual kiss. "Rapunzel," he touched their foreheads, "I will always love you – please," he winced, "Just don't ever doubt that."

"I know," she replied softly.

"No matter _what_ happens, I need you to trust me, you promise?"

She leaned back away. _Why is he acting like this..._ She looked him in the eyes; there was something new, a growing worry she saw in him. Reluctantly, she smiled for him. "I promise."

He forced a smile, nodded and gulped. Suddenly he was realizing how unsure he was of his own courage to follow through. "Alright then." He cleared his throat and withdrew to gather his clothes. "We should get going..."

Rapunzel took a deep breath and followed suit. This time was much easier, though Eugene still kept his back to her. She was able to get her bottom undergarments on under her nightgown, and with her shift over the nightgown, she could wriggle the nightgown out from under it.

She watched as Eugene, already back in his pants, fumbled around with his ripped and bloody white shirt, getting it on backwards at first. He paced back and forth, nervously trying to button it up, unevenly. He noticed eventually and groaned as he undid it all.

She sighed. "Come here."

He looked over to her but shook his head. "Nah, nah I got it," he sighed. "But lemme know when you need help with your corset." As he fixed the rolls of his sleeves, he watched her get her skirts set and held her corset up in place. He redid all the tiny buttons for her, bidding each one goodbye this time.

As she felt him finish, Rapunzel turned an popped a quick peck on his lips; much to his pleasant surprise. While he was stunned, she brushed the tear in his shirt. "I know you won't admit it," she said as slid her fingers through the hole to brush his skin, drawing him to gasp. She continued, "But you're my hero, too."

"Thanks," but he brushed it off and turned to pick up his doublet.

"You know, maybe you don't have to take me back." She tried to give him puppy dog eyes, but smiled at the cheerier thought of running away.

"What? No..." He barely glanced back at her, seemingly paying more attention to his belts. "They're your real parents, your real mother, who is _actually_ heartbroken and wants to hold you, not keep ya locked away in some friggen-"

"But if they find _you-!_ " She grabbed his still-open lapels and turned him to face her.

He clenched his jaw, trying to keep his face blank. "They won't."

She shook her head, pouting. "You can't take me back."

"Rapunzel," he said sweetly, "Everything is gonna be fine." He pecked her forehead, faking a smile for her. "Trust me." He was doing a very good job of ignoring his internal screaming.

She hmphed through her nose a little. _Everything is not gonna be fine._ Her stomach churned, but she let him and the subject go so they could finish dressing.

Downstairs was strangely quiet, save for the sizzling and scraping of a lone someone cooking. They looked around as they descended the steps, Eugene already carrying the bag and paint case.

"Attila?" Rapunzel called out.

At a stove, he turned and waved.

She took a deep breath through the nose, and did not regret it this time. "Ah..."

"Ah, I thought I smelled pancakes!" Eugene exclaimed. His air was light and merry again, through much unseen effort.

"Hungry?" Attila's voice sounded like a bear growling.

"Oh, um, actually..." Rapunzel clutched her stomach.

"Well, thanks, but I'm good." Eugene answered first. "You hungry?"

She shyly looked up to him, lips anxiously scrunched up, and shook her head. "I just have no appetite right now..." she mumbled.

"Yeah, me neither," he sighed to her.

Attila simply stared blankly at them, then turned back to the stove.

"Where's Max?" Rapunzel asked, wondering how she could miss a giant white horse.

Eugene was distracted staring down the two guards, who were still tied, but now quite awake, in the corner. As more light seeped into the pub this time of day, he could now see they were tied to a huge intruding tree root. They looked just as terrified as him as they watched them move towards the back door. "Um... outside?" he idly answered her.

She opened the door to find Max snout-deep in a bushel.

He picked his head up to look as he heard the door open. Apple bits dripped from his mouth; Pascal watched from atop his mane.

Rapunzel giggled a bit of her anxiety off at the sight of him, but Eugene's frayed nerves snapped and he burst out laughing.

Much to both their chagrins, Max greeted them by nosing them up, and smirking disapprovingly.

"What?" Eugene laughed innocently.

Max tapped a hoof on his chest a few times, then slowly pushed him away from Rapunzel.

Eugene just scoffed and mock-laughed at him. "Eh-heh-heh – Tell ya what. _Next_ time, _you_ can share a bed with Blondie, mmkay? Right now we're all wanted, and we're all in this together." He scooped off a blushing Pascal, and pet him good morning as he sat him on his shoulder. "There ya go, _lil green,_ " he whispered to him.

Rapunzel took Pascal from his shoulder, only to chatter with him herself.

Standing right against the closed back door, he gambled that the guards were listening. "So, Max, what's the gameplan?" he made sure to speak a little louder.

Max whinnied in confusion.

"What?" Rapunzel asked, also confused.

Eugene brought his finger to his lips to shush her. "Shush! _They'll._ _Hear. Us!"_ He said loud and clear. But he jerked his head back as he winked and smirked.

Rapunzel mouthed a silent _"oh,"_ as she grinned mischievously.

"East? Well, what's out there for us? … Oh, oh – No, that's good."

"So, East it is!" Rapunzel announced, retaining a giggle.

"Only thing west of here is Corona-"

"And we've already made it this far!"

"Right! There's lots of places to the East, that we could hide out in!" he beamed to his new favorite partner in crime, then turned back to Max. "Eat up. We'll meet you round front in a bit."

As Eugene was loading Max back up in front of the Snuggly Duckling, Rapunzel was slicing up apple pieces for Pascal.

Hookhand had woken up in time to see them off. Eugene pulled him aside to shake his hand.

"Thank you, so much, for _everything_ you've done for us." More quietly, he continued, "Later today, see if you can get those guards to head back to the castle. The crown's already been returned, and you should tell them their Lost Princess has been found."

Hook nodded. "And you?"

Now he whispered low enough, certain that Rapunzel could not here them. "I'm not sticking around. Tell them Flynn Rider won't be bothering anyone anymore. I gotta head _south_ to report back about this botched job, but after that, I might still have a friend in one of the Charmings."

Hook raised a brow and shook his head. "She don't wanna see you."

Eugene rolled his eyes and nodded. "I know, but I'm hoping she doesn't want me dead. She can't be implicated in harboring me, though, or her whole kingdom-"

"I know." Hook held up his hand to stop him, then looked him in the eye. "I don't know _nothin._ "

"Thanks."

Hook shook his head cynically. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to get involved with the alliances?"

Eugene just smiled wider. "Yup." And with that, he turned to mount Max.

Rapunzel stepped up to Hook now, both smiling sweetly to each other. "I can't thank you enough, but once I'm, _back,_ I'll do whatever I can to help make your dream come true." She looked over to Attila and now Vlad who had joined them. "All of your dreams. I promise." She hugged each of them, then joined Eugene in the saddle and they were off.

On the road again, Rapunzel noticed how tightly Eugene was holding her. But before she could get the nerve to question him, he had more to tell her.

"You heard what the plan is for those guards," he said flatly.

"Oh, yeah..."

"You can't tell anyone where I might be, okay?"

"Where will you be?" she asked eagerly.

He hesitated. "I'm not sure myself where I might end up."

She turned back to look at him. _He's not coming back for me..._

"Just trust me, Blondie." He tried flashing a smolder as he looked her right in the eye.

She merely wrinkled her brow with worry, then turned back to face forward. "I do trust you..." she mumbled. _Though why does it feel like I can't believe a word you say..._

"And one more thing," he nuzzled her spiky hair.

"What's that." She was losing amusement with his lies.

"You can't tell anyone there about _us,_ or what we've _done._ " He leaned aside to see her face.

She looked to him. Was she really soon to never see those eyes again? And he would have her forced to pretend for the rest of her life that there was never anything between them? She gulped. "If it will keep you safe-"

"It will keep _both_ of us safe. Promise me – that's the one thing I need you to promise me. That you'll remember what I've said, but not tell anyone what we've done."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "I promise." She squeezed his arms around her tighter.

 **A/N:** Follow me as MiraNova23 on tumblr for Tangled Fandom Resurrection, messaging, my other fanworks, lots of Chuck vs Tangled, and general Disnerdiness.


	4. Chapter 4: Tangled vs The Alma Mater

**A/N: The last section of this has been heavily edited.**

In my rush to get it out last night, I left a lot of things not quite making as much sense as I wanted, and this is plot-important stuff. Instead of just replacing it, I deleted this chapter in the hopes it would send out new e-mail alerts, since there are over 100 people following this story alone. So, if you've already read this chapter, nothing much else has changed except for typos and a few word choice changes to avoid unintended exact repetition. I do however, strongly suggest you re-read the last section, especially if you found it difficult to follow. Again, thank you all so much, and I apologize for the confusion!

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Tangled vs The Alma Mater**

 _playlist on YouTube /BrokenDreams-Ch4_

They rode on for Corona, just a short distance away now. At a comfortable gallop, they would be there within the hour.

Trying to displace the bitterness sprouting in her at Eugene's suspected lie, Rapunzel soon began squirming. She blamed it on the position and speed, though, and thus insisted on riding with one leg on each side, her skirt hiked up to do so. Eugene tried, but was woe to stop her. Settled once more, she watched the forest and woods blur by in a daze. The familiar weight at her back again made her feel strangely safer than her hair ever did, as she was propelled towards this new life.

Eugene kept his head tucked down onto her shoulder, his arms strapping her in close. A simple direction to Max had ensured he did not need to look where they were going. He could not bear to, anyway. On her sides, his hands gripped her fleshy waist, pulling her lower back forward. This was not just for his own want to hold her, but also because doing so arched her upper back, to press into him. Her bottom also pushed back against him. He was not about to waste their last moments with being too much of a gentleman.

She relished the tenderness, and feared if those hands would ever stop. She leaned back into him, savoring his warmth and closeness. Wary of disrupting this favored position, she hesitantly turned her head to nuzzle his cheek at her shoulder. Her worried eyes went big and lips pouted. _Can we even kiss or is Max moving too fast?_

He popped his head up to her, instantly reading her. His lips glued to hers, but the horse's jostling did make it slightly cumbersome. One arm remained embracing her, while the other held her jaw steady with his. His fingertips brushed through her hair over and over. Eventually the kiss became too clumsy, and he took to just whispering more warnings and instructions behind her ear, as he stroked her hair.

" _Don't let anyone hurt you. Don't you lose that spirit. You're beautiful, and smart, and wonderful. Don't you ever doubt that. You are worth more than the whole damn world, don't you ever forget that."_

Their murmuring and caresses and occasional kisses continued on the rest of the way.

At first sight of the bridge through the trees, Rapunzel panicked. "Whoa, Max," she suddenly but gently pulled the reigns back to stop him.

Eugene looked up, the sight of the bridge leaving a rock in the pit of his stomach. He asked in a forced calm, "What's the matter?"

She sighed, and answered without turning around. "You've gone far enough. I'll take Max in alone."

He started. "No- ah, no, no..." _Not so soon!_ "I'll take you to the door, the balcony where the King and Queen receive guests." He pointed ahead of them. "We... um..." He rubbed his forehead, trying to figure out the best way to proceed. "They already know I slipped back into the city once; they'll be patrolling the supposed only in and out even better now. But if we can get you to the back of the castle, you can get up to the third story, and then there's a turn..." his hands tried maneuvering in the air, but suddenly he could not remember how to explain which wall to climb nor how many turrets there were in total. He sighed. "It's been quite a taxing few days since we did this, and we had a map on us then. I'd have to be there to remember anyway."

Max snorted, but they paid it no heed.

"There won't be as many big crowds to hide in, will there?" Rapunzel added in. _I thought you had at least_ some kind _of a plan!_ She rested her hand on his forearm that lay across her stomach. "If it's just me and Max, we should be fine."

"But he _helped_ me escape. Maybe if the rowboat from the other day is still there..." Eugene thought out loud. Unconsciously, his other hand rested atop hers. 

Max snorted again and shook his head.

" _If_ that's still there," Rapunzel pessimistically predicted. She twisted to see his face. _He's so worried, but I swear I'm going to make things right... All this is because of me..._

"We could try to from farther down the shore, and, and see if..." he trailed off. _It's broad daylight._

Max scoffed at this idea as well, this time breaking into a full whinny, shaking his head and stamping his feet.

Eugene scoffed back this time. "Oh yeah?" he snapped, "Well what's _your_ idea, smart guy?!"

Max shot a glare back at Eugene. All of a sudden, he reared up just enough to cause him to clutch Rapunzel's waist for dear life with one arm, while his other hand flew to grab hold of the horn of the saddle, as they both yelled out. Rapunzel pulled hard on the reigns, merely tucking Max's chin down, but not deterring him in the slightest. He came back down hard, so that Eugene's weight collapsed atop Rapunzel. With complementing _oofs,_ they were both left bent over in jockey positions. They stopped crying out for only this moment. Max set his eyes on the bridge, and _bolted._

Rapunzel squealed, partly in terror, but mostly in excitement.

"MAAAaaaAAAX?!" Eugene screamed. "Not agAAAA-eee-AAAin!" In another panic altogether, he checked his collar; Pascal was just as freaked out, but secure.

Max galloped them at full speed through the woods, but following the shoreline, down towards the entrance of the bridge. He began neighing out at the top of his lungs, trying to let his voice carry.

Crouched over Rapunzel, Eugene bitterly whined to her. "Stupid horse, is he turning me in?!"

She laughed out loud. "No, I don't think so!"

Nevertheless, he put a hand on her shoulder and she covered it with her opposite hand.

By the time Max sprang from the brush onto the road right in front of the bridge, the two mounted guards' horses at the entrance there were already in a tizzy. Both brown horses were prancing about in circles, braying and rearing up, trying to shake their riders off kilter. The guards did not even have their crossbows drawn, since they were confused and desperate to simply regain control of their animals. Max clicked in approving gratitude as they blew past. Befuddled shouts followed them.

 _"What the Devil has gotten into these horses!"_

 _"Was that the Captain's horse?!"_

 _"Was that them?!"_

 _"That is- It's Rider!"_

Eugene closed his eyes and prayed the entire length of the straightaway. He leaned down harder on Rapunzel, and kept his arms bent up at her sides, trying to shield her as much as possible. _If they start shooting..._ "Please don't, please don't, please don't, please don't!" he repeated over and over through gritted teeth, his anxiety bursting out of him loud enough for Rapunzel to hear plain as day. __

"Eugene, you have to trust us!" Rapunzel exclaimed. _This is it, I'm so close!_ As they sped down the road, all of her years of longing bubbled back up again. A smile blossomed across her face and a giggle escaped, as the cool salty wind whipped refreshingly at her eyes. _A new life- my new life- This is_ just _the beginning!_

 _I'm dead. I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm a dead man._ Eugene was much less positively thrilled. _Just gotta get her there._ He opened his eyes, squinting ahead of them. To him, the sea air was dingy and ominous, for once they crossed that bridge, he certainly did not have anymore extraction plans or exit strategies for himself. "Max!?" he yelled, "Do you know where to go?!"

Max whinnied what they assumed was affirmatively.

At the height of the hump of the bridge, they lifted their faces to what awaited them.

Rapunzel gasped. Her eyes and mouth likewise opened in wonder once more. The stone castle looked even more wonderful and even more perfect than it did a few days ago. She would not be going here for just a once in a lifetime trip, which she might forget some details of. She was going to _live_ there! The tip top spire was so high that it looked fuzzy in the distance. The colossal architecture formed perfectly to the island itself, looking like a single massive mountain. Inside, she was sure there had to be no shortage of amazing places and winding halls for her to wander. _My tower was nothing compared to this!_ More rising columns than she could see from this angle all soared toward the sky, along with her spirits, only growing as they approached. She swore that the whole of this rocky kingdom was absolutely glimmering, just waiting to excitedly welcome her home. 

Eugene groaned a little. This strange and beautiful castle had once been his dream palace, right out of a fairy tale. This kingdom had been his home in the past, but that was a long time ago. Now it felt weird, racing to the royal residence, heading straight for everything he had been running from for so long. For all the boundless sea beyond it, and the immense stretch of glistening sand of the bay that curved about the peninsula - they were actually heading back to the darkest place for him. He knew that the indistinct details ornamenting the structure were both granite gargoyles and slender seraphim. It was a masterpiece in stone lace, with charming swirls and frail foliage bursting throughout, in stark contrast to the massive supporting buttresses. He was certain he had been the only one, since the architects and monks who had built it centuries before, to see it all up close in order to fully appreciate it. _A terrible, terribly wonderful, masterpiece._ Despite his fears, his admiration swooned for this godly jewel of an island, and its cameo castle rising out of the shimmering sea.

They passed through the eye of the arch at the end of the bridge, but the pounding hoof beats of the over-packed horse had already caught the attention of some residents. Women grabbed children out of the street, who tried to gravitate towards the sense of adventure in awe. Some men tried to defend their wares, while others cried out and shook their fists in indignation.

Max, however, was unaffected. His vision was tunnel focused. His attention zoomed to a giant stack of bird cages to the right, with riled wings flapping out the sides. To the left, a heavily loaded merchant cart was stopped up on an incline with wheel blocks. As he galloped by, he jumped to the right, shouldering the precarious stack just so. The birds quarbbled and honked, squawked and clucked, whichever suit their species, in pure fright. Their small wooden cages suddenly wavered, and toppled the structure over, back towards the middle of the road. Max was already out of the way. Some cages busted open, feathers erupted, and some flightier birds escaped out of the wreckage. On the left, he stopped short, looked back to aim, and back-kicked the side of the merchant cart. The whole cart jerked violently, and the wheels popped up and away from their blocks. Slowly but surely, it started rolling down into the road, driving directly toward the avian mess of broken wood. Again, Max was already well on his way again down this entrance road.

"Sorry!" Rapunzel winced and cried out to the townsfolk, genuinely feeling horribly responsible for the destruction. "Excuse us!"

Eugene yelled directly at the horse actually responsible. "Nice job blendin' in with the crowd, Max. Who ya rootin' for, _death?!"_

Any guard stationed on this side of the island would have the advantage of higher ground. Max saw this, and narrowed his eyes, scanning around them for a plan. Rapunzel and Eugene both instinctively ducked when he galloped under an overpass. Suddenly, he darted off the entrance road with a hard left, screaming passengers in tow, under another overpass.

But this was a short street, that curved back toward the mainland. To their left, was a small group of guards, without weapons drawn yet, running from the mess of the entrance road, to assess what was going on. Max quickly maneuvered to take a hard right, but in the close quarters could not properly account for the whiplash he was creating. Just as he was taking another hard left turn to head back down another short street towards the side road, Max nearly whacked against a wall. Eugene, however, did. Pascal flew out of his collar, only still hanging on by the grip he had on the white shirt's unused button hole.

Eugene and Pascal recovered, but Eugene began thinking about how practical it really was for him to still be there. He was used to running from the guards, sure, but he was running _toward_ their base. And what help was he actually being?

Max was on a long straightaway again, not the main road, but a prominent side road that rounded the west side of the island. The commotion and cacophony, set in motion from the start, had spread quickly up the rocky town's levels. They began to make out calls to arms, and shouts alerting whatever guards were around. But Max was set on his task, and his gritted face showed how hard he was pushing himself, what with all the weight he was carrying.

"Have we lost them?" Rapunzel tried to look back, but could not see past Eugene's arm.

He looked behind them. "Uh, no we haven't." Two mounted guards were on their tail, crossbows drawn. A few looks back and forth showed they were gaining. "They're gaining on us!" He looked down to Rapunzel in his arms. He grabbed the hair away from the side of her face, and kissed her temple. "Plan B," he announced. "Don't stop for anything."

 _What._ Rapunzel's heart sank too fast to even say anything to object.

The purple pennants bearing Corona's sun insignia were still strung across the streets. Eugene stood up in the stirrups, reached up, and caught hold of one of the pennant ropes. Beneath him, Max kept charging, right out from under him. His body still swung forward from momentum, his legs swung up, as he tried to swing as high as he could, increasing his hang time. At the weightless peak, he switched his hands to turn around as he came back down. 

Legs spread, with the downward swing his boot heels each hit one of the guards square in the chest. He let go at just the right time, and managed to tuck and roll safely to avoid injury himself. The guards had been knocked unconscious as their helmets hit the cobblestone. He ended up up on all fours, facing back towards them and ready to pounce, but he was able to take a breather and slowly get to his feet.

"Eugene – Run!" Rapunzel cried out to him, though her voice was faint to him in the distance already. She could hardly turn much to look back against the momentum. " _Max!_ " she screeched. "We have to go back!"

The horse had of course noticed the close to 200 pound drop in weight, but shook his head and gruffed. He continued racing ahead, faster now.

Eugene looked wistfully up the hill of the city towards the castle. _Max'll get her there safe. Maybe I should just take my chance to leave now –_

Something warm squirmed against his neck, then gargled and croaked.

He grabbed his collar and looked down into it. "Ugh, Pas _caaal!_ "

He chirped, smiled, and gave a thumbs up.

Eugene rolled his neck and his eyes. "Great, I'm glad to see _you're_ doing good," he quipped. "Come on, let's get outta here." He groaned as he picked up running the way Max had headed, though he had already lost sight of him.

* * *

The road Max had dashed down ended in a sharp U-turn, as the cliff side proved too unmanageable for the builders of old. Instead, the road wound back the way it had come, only at yet a higher elevation. It continued on this way, zigzagging back and forth, as far as they could see before their disadvantaged viewpoint proved to only show the underside of buildings and such.

"Comon, Max, hurry!" Rapunzel goaded him. _Okay, NOW I'm panicking._ "If we can get to the King and Queen, they can stop everyone from chasing Eugene, right?" Her voice was a desperate whine.

Max's positively determined whinny covered for his own doubts. He knew this side road would be less patrolled, that he was fast enough and would do anything to deliver Rapunzel, and that Eugene was very good at eluding his guards. But as for how Eugene would fare now, running _on foot_ , _toward_ the castle, he had no idea.

Escaping the roof of the prison and jumping down through the city had been a lot easier than it was getting back up it. Aggravated with so few options and hard going, he eyed up the houses around him, and in his memory. Apparently having come up with a plan, he galloped with renewed confidence, which showed in his smirk. At the end of this very road, which they now took back toward the center line of the island, stood the front of an unusually large, rather prominent house.

Rapunzel grew worried, as Max was not slowing down. The front door was propped open, while a plainly dressed man was unloading a cart, delivering milk bottles. A woman in a dull dress, apron, and hair tied back had just disappeared inside with some other goods. "I'm so sorry!" Rapunzel called out ahead, and ducked as low as she could, assuming the wildest from her ride.

Sure enough, Max lowered his head a bit, and charged through the propped-open door. In the parlor, an elderly woman screamed in fright, threw down her knitting needles, and started trying to jump up from her seat. "No, don't get up, please!" Rapunzel winced. Max did not stop, trotting around a coffee table and twisting toward a swinging door, that lead them to the kitchen, as if he knew exactly where he was going. Rapunzel was overwhelmed with the smell of cooking cheeses and cured meats melding together. Her stomach growled as she took in a glorious deep breath and smiled. "Smells delicious!" she called out to whoever would have heard the horse tearing through their house. She heard a younger woman call back, _"Who's that?"_ Max was quick to head through a short pantry room, and shoulder his way through the spring screen door, out of the house and into a hedged-in backyard.

In one corner stood a small shed, the side wall of which was covered in posters and scarred from target practice. A sword lay on the ground beside a straw practice post. A tall, built man was just emerging from the shed with his arms full of firewood. He wore slick black boots past his knees and sharp navy blue pants, but his shirt was loose and dirtied off-white. At the sight of Maximus charging out of his own house, his thick neck and squared jaw stiffened indignantly. His nose flared, mustached mouth snarled, and brown eyes bulged out. He dropped the wood at his feet in disbelief, and could do nothing but watch as _his_ horse raced by him.

Max looked just as angry, and yelled at him incoherently.

Rapunzel readjusted her eyes to the sunlight, and smiled at the sight of the lovely green grass oasis they had entered. "Lunch's ready!" she called to the man, certain that the man's expression was because this was a silly thing they were doing, but at least Max had done it, not her. She giggled.

"What?" the man stared blankly at the rider now; a petite girl with _short brown_ hair, barefoot, in a pink dress. She was quite the opposite of the person he had seen escape on that horse, but there was something familiar about her. He blinked as he recognized her dress. Stunned and confused, he made a fist, stomped his foot, and bellowed out after them, "MAXI _MUUUS!_ "

Max ignored him. He was more focused on jumping over the six-foot high hedge.

Rapunzel was likewise focused on bracing herself for the jump, but she suddenly recognized the man now that she had also heard his voice. She shuddered and gasped as she looked back over her shoulder. She took the landing a bit harder for her distraction, ending up hugging Max's neck. As she straightened herself, though, she cried out to him. "Max, we have to _go!_ "

He nodded, and picked up the pace once more down this new road.

* * *

Eugene quickly realized that there was probably good reason why Max had chosen to go this route, and re-re-confirmed his ultimate hatred of him. He squinted his eyes at the armory, coming up on his right. _They musta flown right by here._ But now, there were four men outside scrambling to get in their gear and grab their weapons. _MAX... WHY._

He eyed up his options. _Oh forget THIS._ "Hang on Pascal," he warned his tiny collar stowaway. Eugene ran just past the group of men, appearing to still follow the road he was on, which was about to go through a covered archway between two buildings on either side. But he ran straight at the wall of the left building, farther from the men and the armory, on the ocean side of the road. The guards stumbled, confused, as they watched him. He leapt at the wall, planted his foot a couple feet up it, then jumped back away and up, leading into a side flip in the air. In one fluid motion he had turned the direction of his momentum 90 degrees, so that when he landed facing the armory, he was still propelled forward.

The men were amazed, and further debilitated as the trick stunned them. Eugene continued running right between them, to a pyramid of barrels in the corner between the earthen wall stretching up to the next level of road, and the armory. He made it look easy as he strode up the barrels like stairs. On the highest one, he jumped straight up, just gripping the top of that stone and earth wall. He paused and dipped his body down as low as he could, enough to kick that last barrel backward, tumbling the whole stack down, crashing and cracking open onto the dumbfounded, and now screaming, guards.

He snapped from his fingertips to his palms, then his feet scurried against the wall to pull himself up in one last pop. He teetered standing on the edge as he regained his balance, but a moment too long, and the guards actually twanged a few shots off at him. The bolts lodged in the stone just below his feet, but one chipped the heel of his boot. As soon as he had solid ground again, he started running again, while checking his collar. Pascal's eyes were closed tight, and he was holding onto that buttonhole for dear life. Even through his heavy breathing, Eugene had to chuckle at him.

This path was level with the rooftops of the houses of the level below, but lower than the next higher road. It was a scenic park area with a meandering pathway, directed by decorative short walls, just a couple feet high each. Trees and bushes around here obstructed the view upwards, though he could just make out that wealthy man's property he had learned long ago to avoid at all cost. A higher wall, facing the mainland, curved more gracefully in a long arc hugging the whole of the island, with few interruptions. Every so often, a cut in it would allow stairs to pass from this level, down to access the street below.

He palm-slid over the short walls' ledges, vaulted over hedges, and smoothly leapt from one obstruction to the next without slowing. There were hardly any people here; just a few meandering bystanders who luckily did not require dodging.

Once he had re-crossed the center line of the island, he notice the bright red and gold from a pair of guards coming down from the higher street, heading down towards the commercial businesses below on this side. They had not seen him heading across, and he strode from a bench to a ledge, over the stairs they would soon head down, and with ease landed light on his feet, still unnoticed. The next break, however, another pair were farther down already, and could easily break off their course and follow him at this level. Up ahead, he could see the top floor of a house situated at the lower level, and its small open window. At this ledge, he did not hop over the descending stairs, but rather down the ledge and turned to hang on its edge. From there, he hopped to a lamppost, swung around its vertical pole, and slipped into the open window. The guards did indeed spot him, yelled and pointed, but had to continue down the stairs toward the front door on the first floor.

Inside the room, Eugene finally allowed himself to roll and sprawl out onto the floor, clutching the stitch in his side, and intended to lay there for a another breather. That is, til it dawned on him that a young woman had screamed. He jumped to his feet once more, hands up defensively, ready to apologize, but his eyes betrayed him as he took in that she was only wearing a robe. She had quieted, but froze clutching herself and staring at his face.

"Wha- uh, _whoa,_ " he stuttered as he tried to collect himself. "I am _sorry,_ I..."

Suddenly, she giggled and blushed. "Aren't you–?"

"Yeah," he gasped, still panicked, still out of breath. But then he reciprocated the giggle. "Hi, how ya doin?" He smirked, as he kept breathing hard through his mouth, and his eyebrows attempted to fall into place. Along with his eyes, his cheeks, frown, and remaining furrow in his brow, however, showed it for merely a bad facade. "Flynn Rider," he tried to convince himself, but again, only proved his fake confidence was nowhere to be found. 

The woman merely looked him over, confused.

Eugene looked down as he rubbed his face and took one last deep breath to appease his lungs. Without another thought, he turned back to the window. He stuck his head out carefully, to check both directions and plan his route from here. No more guards were in sight, and there was a drain pipe on the side of the house. He climbed out the window, leapt from the ledge over to the drain pipe, and shimmied his way up to the roof.

Once he hoisted himself up, he was off and running again, up and down across the peak of this roof, then up and down across its connected twin. Another hop, and he continued on to the next block the same way. After that block, however, the next rooftop was too far away, and he had no way of gaining any more elevation. So, he resorted to launching off the edge, into a tree in between the two houses, and switching back and forth and around, til he made his way down to the ground.

He managed to make his landing without being immediately spotted. He pressed against a wall and tried to peer around the corner. A single guard was standing close to him with his crossbow at the ready, but still unaware of him and facing the opposite direction. Trying to move as smoothly as possible, Eugene darted out to continue running down the street. The guard still heard his footsteps and turned to yell after him and take up the chase again. Another small band was steadily catching up, and another pair were heading down steps to their level.

The street quickly gave way from residential houses to storefronts and carts and tables of pop-up shops. On his way weaving through the growing number of bystanders, Eugene toppled a stray barrel over behind him. It rolled back into the guard right on his tail, but the man recovered quickly and clumsily hurdled over it. With a groan, Eugene kept his motion fluid as he continued running down the street.

Panting, he dashed out of a covered archway, straight towards a street vendor. He ran under the vendor's banner, and yanked it down behind himself. The guard predictably ran into it and was blinded just long enough to lose sight of where he could have gone, and it caused him to trip and crash over the man's table. While watching the scene unfold behind him, Eugene darted down what he thought was small alleyway between two very close buildings. " _OOF!_ " Immediately, his toes and knees met with more stone steps, bringing him down onto his hands several steps higher. He jerked his head up, saw that the steps lead up to the higher road, and began climbing, frantically, on all fours.

Finally at the top, the warm sun shone in his face again as he emerged from the cool staircase. But then just as suddenly, it was cut off by another large obstacle stepping in its way. Eugene froze, as he stared at the hooves before him. Before he could even make a sound, something grabbed the back neck of his doublet and yanked him up. His hands flew behind his head to fight it, and at last his voice desperately attempted a objecting yell, but his collar dug into his throat and strangled the noise.

"There you are!" came Rapunzel's voice.

He turned his head up for his eyes to adjust to the glare of the light, to see her just as she spoke. Max set him on his feet. He quieted, newly stunned. Dumbfounded, his face gaped open at Max, who was smugly smirking at him. Then his eyes dilated as he looked past them, and froze.

The lone guard had come up a different set of stairs, and ran out behind Rapunzel and Max. He looked side to side, and spotted them. He ran right up to behind Max as he pointed to them with his crossbow. "Hey you!" He paused and leveled his aim, wavering somewhere between Eugene's chest and Max's snout. "Freeze!"

Eugene froze indeed. He could not defend all of them against a point-blank shot, unless he alone drew the fire...

Max's smirk turned into an unamused frown. He barely turned his head to look behind himself. Ever so calmly, he back-kicked the guard. The man flew back and landed flat on his back, out cold. He whinnied a laugh, quite pleased with his shot.

Eugene shuddered and gulped, staring back and forth between the unconscious guard whose bolt almost had his name on it, and the Captain-who-wanted-him-dead's former horse. "I swear this kingdom has it in for me!"

Rapunzel had twisted in the saddle, also watching the guard on the ground, to make sure he showed no signs of movement. Worse than that prospect, though, she heard shouts directing more men through the way he had come. "Alright," she said, settling back in the saddle straight. "They've spotted us." She held the reigns naturally, ever so gently actually guiding Max to step and turn his broadside toward Eugene. "Okay," she held her hand out for him. "We have to go!"

Automatically, he grasped her forearm, as she grasped his. He leapt up, but otherwise relied on her to pull himself up enough to swing his other leg over. _Holy crap I keep forgetting she's so strong..._

"Let's go, Max!" she quietly urged him.

Max immediately took off again, through another overpass, hopped a low-hanging chain, and continued on up this service road around to the back of the castle.

 _They both... just... keep saving my life..._ "I, uh, I've got Pascal. He's alright."

"Oh, thank Goodness!" Rapunzel turned her head to look. Pascal still looked a little queasy from all of the jostling and excitement, but he gave a shaky thumbs-up. She smiled back apologetically.

Eugene leaned forward and pointed ahead. "Best spot to sneak in is this way, across the courtyard."

"Right. You heard him, Max!"

* * *

Max pulled up in a secluded corner. Before them, the rockiness of the island itself took over. Brush began to grow more wildly, some managing to grow into decent sized trees. Here the cobblestone road had long been neglected, leading into a tight pathway, and a back door.

Eugene dismounted, then turned and reached his arms out to help Rapunzel dismount. She hesitated, unsure how to maneuver with him.

"Comon," he smiled.

She blushed. "Eh- Alright." As she placed her hands on his shoulders, she felt a fresh spark flow through them. It made her feel happy, all tingly again, somehow genuinely loved, though she could not understand why. _But I can do this myself!_ Her stomach and heart soared as she descended, and he held her up from under her arms. _I can do things for m-_ Her eyes caught in his, and her breath caught in her chest. _...mys-self..._

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Eugene slipped his arms the rest of the way around her back and pulled her into an tight hug. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to steady his breathing and his nerves.

"Eugene?" Her arms came to wrap around his neck, but in her confusion, she did not hug him back as tightly.

"Hm." Eugene cleared his throat and swallowed back any bubbling over emotions. "Thank you for everything..." 

Rapunzel pushed them back apart but gripped his upper arms. "What is it?"

He kept his eyes down to the side, not ready yet to look directly into hers again. 

She could still see the terror in his eyes, hear it in his voice, and feel it in his arms. She squeezed his biceps where she held him.

"I dunno," he spilled. "I mean, I figured this would be tough, but, this place," he picked his head up to look up at the castle wall they stood beside, then back the way they had come, "It's just a lot to take in, ya know..." _This is the worst day of my_ life. 

"Then... Maybe you should stay here," she offered. "I can tell them about you first and then we could-"

"No," he finally looked her square in the face. "To the door, I said, remember?" _I neeeeed to see that she gets taken in safely- that she'll be alright!_

At his stubborn resolve, Rapunzel inhaled sharply, pursed her lips, and averted her eyes, but did not say anything. Her brow creased more and more, but she simply let go of him. She gently fished Pascal out of his collar, then turned back to Max to deposit him upon his head. She sighed and tried to offer them a strong smile. "We'll come back for you two later."

Eugene decidedly ignored her 'we' statement, but also turned his attention to Max's packs, unhitched a wound up circle of rope, and tried not to think. He tied a slip knot at one end of the length, then squinted upwards and licked his lips.

Rapunzel followed his gaze, and instantly spotted an anchor. She turned back to Eugene, who was still staring up. "Here, gimme." She snatched the rope from his hands.

His eyes snapped to her, and in a split second realized this should have been obvious. He gladly held his hands up and open with a smirk. "Have at it."

She deftly felt out the weight of the rope, loosed some slack, and then flung the slipknotted end high up above them. The loop soared over its target, and dropped down encompassing a small, but solid, spire. A firm tug from below secured the loop snuggly, and a harder yank proved it should hold their weight. "There," she nodded curtly.

Eugene watched in open admiration. "Ni- _iiice..._ " he drew out.

"Hm." She smiled proudly at him, cocking her hips, with one hand upon her side and the other still holding the rope. "I still got it."

He took hold of the dangling rope and began climbing up, walking his way up the broad outer wall of the castle. She followed his lead right behind him.

When at last they reached the peak of a steeply slanted rust-red roof, Eugene helped Rapunzel to stand up beside him atop it, both still holding fast to the rope. From here, though, he focused solely on the difference in himself, which he was only being made more and more keenly aware of. The last time he was here, he was en route to steal the crown. Now, the Lost Princess herself was trailing behind him, holding his hand. Yet, he still had to remember what the layout of the original heist had been. "Still with me?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yup!" she cheerfully answered. "This is sure gonna beat climbing the single spire of the tower!" The stone and clay tiles below her feet had been warmed by the sun, but not so much that they burned. She wriggled her toes and shifted her feet around to soak it up. She was too wary to really take the view in yet, but a squeeze to Eugene's hand conveyed her readiness and excitement.

Eugene's brow popped, worried about her past safety in her casually mentioned climb, but at least more confident in this one. He removed the loop of the rope from its anchor, wound it back up, and hung it across his shoulder and chest. "Alright." He glanced to her bare feet, and frowned. "Hold onto me." He wrapped his arm instead around her waist, pinning her to his side and stealing her footing away. She gasped and grabbed around his chest and back. Suddenly, he turned and stepped off the peak. They slid down the other steep side of the roof, his boots generating a gentle clak-clak-clak-clak against the tiles all the way down to the ledge. They both found their footing again at the edge, but his arm remained tight around her.

"Whoa," Rapunzel breathed, finally grasping the dangerous height they were now free-climbing.

"Yeah. Careful." He pointed with his chin, gingerly releasing her. "Over there next. Right after I'm out of the way. Got it?" 

"Yeah, I think so."

"'kay." And he was off. He leapt to another ledge that wrapped around one of the towers, then quickly continued his momentum to creep around it.

Rapunzel watched him intently, but quirked her face in a tilt at how he used his own weight's momentum, greater strength, and longer limbs. She had a different idea. In a graceful ballerina leap, she bounded from one ledge to the next. With her head still bowed from the move, she swiftly scurried around. On the other side, she saw him crouched upon a chimney stack, turned back watching her and waiting. She launched herself at the higher ledge of a closer chimney, securely grabbing the edge and pulling herself up, also to crouching. "Now what?" she giggled.

Eugene took a deep breath, trying to swallow down and wipe from his face just how deathly worried he was for her up here. "Now c'mon. This way." He turned and leapt to yet another higher ledge and pulled himself up, then simply stepped to the very close, but yet higher one above that to wait for her.

Rapunzel followed in kind for the next chimney and ledge. Here, however, they found themselves right above the large public receiving balcony and front entrance. She looked up to Eugene.

"We're here," he simply said with an unexpectedly giddy smirk, and pointed down. He shrugged the rope off, found the looped end, and fastened it to a decorative curve on the stone raking cornice entablature. He looked over at their landing options.

Rapunzel leaned against him and looked over the edge as well.

" _Hold on,"_ he whispered. He felt her nod against his shoulder, then checked his landing spot again. " _Okay, here goes."_ Holding onto the rope, he stepped out to rappel off the rest of the entablature's facade, as silently as possible.

There was only one guard on the terrace below. Normally, there should have been more at this most auspicious entrance. _Given the number we've seen crawling elsewhere, though, seems they really have already spread out over the whole countryside._ Eugene made a face as he analyzed the situation of the lone guard. _Heh, he looks bored._ The slouching, gangly man below wore a redcoat uniform with no armor, and only a poleaxe for a weapon, tucked in his arm as he leaned on his shoulder against the wall of the castle. His chin, in turn, leaned on the heel of his hand. He moved his head every so often, and sighed so loudly, they could hear him from their perch above. _"Well, let's go give_ him _the surprise of his_ life. _"_ He smirked devilishly to Rapunzel, who smirked back just the same.

Eugene rappelled down to just above and to the side of the guard's back. A quick deep breath, and he let go of the rope as he gracefully dropped down right behind him. As perfect a landing as it was, there was no deceiving the man any longer. Eugene's boots hit the ground and the guard spun around with a gasp- which was immediately cut short by Eugene's hand over his mouth. He took a further intimidating step towards him, pressing the guard back against the wall and closing any space between them.

The poor guard's eyes popped in pure shock.

"Hey, hi," Eugene smoothly flashed pearly whites at him. He kept his voice low and steady. "How ya doin'? _Yeah,_ " he cocked a brow and jerked his head to throw his bangs back. "It's me."

Behind them, Rapunzel took her turn to drop in. _It's always nice to know he can keep up with me._ She smiled widely at him as he worked.

"And _this,_ " he swallowed as the next few words each got stuck in his throat a little. "Is the Long Lost Princess Rapunzel of Corona." He forced a smile despite his neck twinging and one brow starting to wrinkle. The guard looked to Rapunzel as instructed, who waved pleasantly to him, then looked back to the infamous criminal restraining him. He was thoroughly confused. But Eugene blinked and shook his head back to the task at hand. "Now, I need you to pay _very_ close attention. I won't be here when you get back, but we need _you_ to go get the King and Queen, okay? Tell them their daughter is here to meet them. But DO NOT tell them who brought her here, alright? And JUST the King and Queen, NO other guards. Alr _iiight?"_

The guard shifted his spear in his hand, in an attempt to lower it, but the metal bottom scraped against the stone ground. He cringed at the noise it made, alerting Eugene to his intentions, in spite of the futility of such effort in these close quarters.

Eugene simply sighed and shook his head at the man. With his other hand, he drew the dagger from his belt. "I _was_ asking nicely." He brandished it in front of his face for him to see, before sticking the point to his throat. "Now, I'll ask you again, _do you understand?_ Or do I need to completely repeat myself?"

"Eugene!" Rapunzel exclaimed, shocked.

Now Eugene cringed. _Dammit, Blondie, the NAME!_

"Why couldn't you have just brought the frying pan if you were going to-! I can't believe you- ugh!" Rapunzel turned her attention to the guard and winced. "I am _so_ sorry, sir. And I _really,_ really would appreciate it if you could just," she approached the pair and laid both of her hands on Eugene's arm with the dagger, lowering it a bit as he allowed her. "Forget you ever saw him." She waved her hand around toward Eugene, as if to dismiss him as nothing more than an illusion, with a hopeful shake of her head and smile upon her face to hide her worry.

The guard had been becoming entranced by her juxtaposing sweetness, and her undeniably striking resemblance to the Queen.

Eugene rolled his eyes but tried to maintain form. "Anyway. Ya got that, buddy?" He scowled at him.

The guard nervously returned his attention to him and nodded carefully.

"Good man." Eugene released him, but snatched the loosely-held poleaxe away.

The man stood there, unfazed by losing his weapon, still trying to figure the trio out. "Is that a frog?" He squinted with one eye and timidly pointed at Eugene's shoulder.

"What?" He made a face, but looked over his shoulder, only to come face to face with Pascal mimicking his own scowl. The tiny green creature had been atop his shoulder all this time, assisting in the intimidation. "Er, _no!_ " he cried indignantly at the guard. "He's a chameleon."

Rapunzel chuckled at the guard's parallel mistake, but scooped Pascal up. "You little stinker, how'd you get here?"

"Oh..." The guard's mouth hung open as if he were a schoolboy dunce again.

"Just," Eugene grimaced at him and gestured with the blade again to shoo him away, "Get going." He slipped the blade away into his boot.

"Right." The guard scrambled away with a growing grin in addition to the general disbelief all over his face. The trio watched as the double doors finally closed behind him, then let out a collective sigh.

"Blondie," he said very firmly, "You _can't_ tell anyone my real name."

Rapunzel was taken aback at his scolding tone, but quickly flipped it on him. "And why not?" She stuck a hip out with her hand on it while the other motioned to all of him. "You're not going back to thieving, so?"

"Right, but-" he did a double take. "Hold on! I never _said that!_ " He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "But regardless, 'Flynn Rider' has been sentenced to death. They already know my face; they _don't_ need another name to go with it."

"Eugene," Rapunzel took his hand, "I'm going to take care of that anyway. I _promise._ " Her voice strained with the weight in it.

"Blondie," he squeezed her hand back, but shook his head and eventually pushed her hand away as he casually turned. "You can't promise that."

"But I will!" She stomped her foot forward, losing her cool confidence, but doubling her courage.

Eugene scoffed but blushed. His thumb automatically went to rub his palm. "Well, then, I appreciate the effort," he nodded towards her.

"You-" Rapunzel's voice finally cracked. Her heart pounded, as this moment had finally come. "You _can't_ go."

Eugene winced. "Rapunzel," he stepped up to her again. "If you want me alive, I'm better off disappearing. If you want me _free_ ," he ran a hand through her hair to fix it from the rifling breeze, then held her neck. "Then I _have_ to."

"Ugh!" Rapunzel scoffed and tore away from him. She thrust her fists down at her sides and paced away.

"Look, I'm sorry!" Eugene lowered his stature and threw his hands out before him, following her as she wandered to the stone railing at the center of the balcony.

Rapunzel absently rested her left hand on the thick ledge of the stone railing. She gazed down over the city below. With slow, deep breaths, she steadied her breathing. _Everything's going to be fine,_ she told herself. But she could not stop the rest of her thoughts. _Eugene... If I never see you again- what would I do? How can I go on without you after you've changed my_ whole entire _life forever? I do want you to be safe, but I also want you to be happy and I don't think you'd be happy alone anymore._ She settled her body down, as the tempest in her mind swept her away. _And of course I suppose there's always the possibility he's just trying to get ride of me,_ again. _Either way, he probably wouldn't want me annoying him with a hug right now..._

"Blondie..." Eugene tried to soothingly whisper her less-grave nickname. He crept up to her right side, and tenderly wrapped his arm around her lower back, which she tensed at for the first time in a while. _This is all for_ her. He closed his eyes as he exhaled. "Listen..."

She finally relaxed into his embrace with a sigh and a smile, even wrapped her arm around his waist. Her heart could always intuitively _feel_ his love through his embrace, and it was a lot easier to trust what her heart felt when she had something tangible to go by.

He adjusted his arm to her resting atop her shoulders, still pulling her close. Her hand quickly found his wrist, holding it there in approval. "It's all going to be alright," he spoke softly against her temple, then burrowed into her hair and planted a kiss. _I really do believe that._ "No matter what happens."

 _No matter what happens,_ she returned the nuzzle against his neck, but forced herself to tear away with a sigh. _I don't want him to get in trouble for anything._ Their hands, however, remained entwined.

 _Even if she hates me,_ he sighed, _this is what's best for her. Without a doubt!_ "Uh, I only have a moment," he said resignedly. He rested their still-connected hands on the ledge, and turned to look out the other direction across the city. He squinted at the light reflecting off the bay, but his eyes adjusted. It was where he had rowed the boat out to the other night. Suddenly he noticed his heart had dropped to his stomach and began pounding.

 _And my parents!_ As soon as she turned from Eugene, the sudden thought hit Rapunzel – what they were actually there for. _What will they be like? What will I even call my 'Mother?!' Will they like me?! Am I anything like they've been expecting?! Will a shy and quiet girl even make a good 'princess?' Or maybe I'm too wild and clingy!? Will I like THEM? What is my life going to be like, now?!_ She bit her lip, looking out at the town, but not really seeing it. _Eugene, you just CAN'T leave me all alone in this world – not again!_

 _Corona..._ His eyes dilated wide and focused in closer, away from the shoreline, to the town itself. He skimmed the rooftops and trees, the decorations still left, the storefronts and homes. It was nearly as breathtaking as it was from the perch above them. _Am_ I _REALLY leaving Corona... forever?_ _I- I can't imagine_ not EVER _coming back here. I still feel like this is where my_ soul _belongs, and now beside her. This place- feels too important- to my entire life... Is this all part of that Fate and Destiny she's been-? She'd been slowly convincing me– but this path, leads to my death...! I'd be wasting her gift if I let that happen, so I_ need to _take this into my own hands!_ He tried to move his legs – but could not.

Rapunzel felt herself wobbling back to closing off, retreating to appeasement, giving in to keep the peace. _I certainly don't want him to leave while he's annoyed with me..._ "You should get going." Her voice was small and fragile; her lip quivered. "So they don't..." She turned her head even farther away.

 _Rapunzel-!_ He whipped his full wide-eyed attention to her. Hearing her give up on him so easily and without warning, hurt more deeply than he could have ever anticipated. _She's really gonna let me go? ...no..._ Regardless, he tried again to take a step. Still, he could not budge. _What's wrong with me?! My legs feel like dead weight! This is not good..._ This was not a normal adrenaline rush. His blood ran cold and his head felt light. He gulped. _Gh'kay- Ohhhkay... Oh no. Nooo, no, no. Death's not gonna make it an easy exit for me this time!_ His knees locked up. He frantically scoured the cityscape, the bay, the bridge, the forest beyond where they had just had the greatest adventure of a lifetime! _I ca-an't! Rapunzel! I can't leave you!_ Outwardly, he was completely frozen.

" _Okay, Eugene..."_ she whispered one last time, _"Go."_

His tiny whispered response lodged in his throat, barely audible let alone discernible. _"No..."_

Rapunzel did not hear him, and so tried to move on to distracting herself with the future. _How will they even know I'm really their daughter? If I'm really their daughter? And WILL they like me? I wonder what it was like for them, when I was a bab –_

The doors clicked open behind them; the dreadful sound they had been anticipating forever, yet somehow never expected would ever come. Everyone's stomachs collectively flipped.

 _I'm dead._ Eugene felt faint.

 _They're HERE!_ Rapunzel's mind screamed, then blanked.

Slowly, she and Eugene both turned around... and saw them. Standing there. Just as stunned and dumbfounded as them.

 _SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE ME._ Rapunzel's heart soared, and time became irrelevant. Her hand slipped from Eugene's, but she heard his voice echo in her memory. _'Your mother's name is –' MOTHER. 'Your father's name is –' Father...?_ She could not recall the exact names he had said, but she thought back to watching the lanterns rise over the castle. _'The lantern thing they do for the Princess.'_

Eugene took in a deep breath. _...Blondie..._ He locked eyes with her father, the King, while trying to look calm and collected, and some combination of subservient pride. _Lord help me!_ Luckily, the old man seemed just as shocked, and without the faintest idea of what a 'criminal' even was. Eugene felt a smile tug at him. _I brought her back... The Legendary Lost Princess..._ Suddenly Rapunzel's resolve clicked in him. _I-_ **I** _did that! I... don't think the crown matters..._ He swayed where he stood, still feeling a twinge of protectiveness, but glad to watch her walk away towards them.

The Queen's mouth hung open in disbelief, and Rapunzel subconsciously mirrored her. The two women floated closer and closer, undeniably drawn together by an invisible, eternal bond.

Rapunzel paused, realizing how different and new this feeling was. _This... is... my_ family? _Can it really be...?_ Her mind explodedwith questions about her whole family, their lives, their history, their own struggles and dreams, even their daily interests. However, it blanked once more as the Queen honed in on her, and touched her face. All she could do was to smile and futilely try to hold back floodgates she felt ready to spill over from behind her eyes. _My REAL-_ Suddenly the Queen was hugging _her._ Those floodgates burst. _Momma..._ She did not know where the word had come from inside her, but she did know that this was the single most healing hug in the world, ever. _She WANTS me...! ...me... She... wants ME._

Eugene forgot about his own worries as he watched them, almost giddy that Rapunzel was right about her parents not immediately demanding his neck, and moved to tearing up at seeing her find where she belonged. And likewise, Rapunzel's worries about Eugene fell away. As she basked in her mother's welcome, she felt strong and confident, like she could save him with her bare hands from a fire-breathing dragon; which she really hoped there were not any around at the moment, because this was simply such a perfect, wonderful, moment.

 _Is this how it was supposed to feel?_ All those years, hugging _her_ – who was nothing more than a kidnapper, and she her cheery captive. _'Such a shame you can't look just like your Mummy. ...You weren't meant to have children.' She herself had been the very worst of all the things she had warned me of. She had 18 years to change, and so many, many, more years before that. But she never did._ In the end, she simply turned all the more vicious in literally tying Rapunzel down. But this _Queen._ This was as strong a love as she had felt from Eugene's hug. She remembered his words, as well, about the lantern festival. _'It was all for you.'_

A pang of well-deserved pride puffed Eugene's chest up, and stayed there as he choked back a sob. It was no longer just for Rapunzel, but he could identify with each of them. _They're a family again..._ For his entire life, he had imagined a set of loving, accepting parents welcoming their long-lost child home, and how much they could have missed him. Now, at least for Rapunzel, that scene was unfolding before his very eyes. For the time being, it completely left his mind how scarey the King was to him, as the old man approached them.

She felt her _father_ hugging them both, and then they were kneeling and she just blissfully curled up into her _mother_ , her _real mother,_ so full of happiness and relief that she was not sure if her heart would burst or if she would fall asleep right there.

She felt her mother's hand discretely leave. The Queen reached out to Eugene, and he happily extended his hand to accept, smirking at the irony and pure absurdity of the situation. Next thing he knew, he was on his knees among the small family, arms wrapped around his monarchs, and theirs around him.

She felt Eugene's presence enter, pressed to her back. _Eugene is hugging with them- us! too!_ She chuckled through her happy tears, she was in such rapture in this embrace. She passingly wished they could all just morph into one of her paintings on the wall, so they would never have to leave it.

 _What the..._ Eugene simply bowed his head behind Rapunzel's, squeezed into the hug, and did not even try to wipe the grin off his face. _She's safe– safe and sound, safe, and so happy..._

Rapunzel tried to continue soaking up the obvious display of love, of long lost reuniting, but a tiny fear wormed its way into her thoughts. _I should prooobably stop hugging them before it gets to be 'too much.' And oh my Goodness – WHAT IF I am compleeetely wrong?! What if I'm not their daughter, the Princess? What if I was just kidnapped from, like, some baker family?! Maybe my real father was a thief, too, and–?!_ She shot her eyes back open to re-center herself, but did begin to shrink away from the hug. _No, no, Gothel confirmed I was 'The Lost Princess.' But still, I should get a hold of myself._

Eugene felt her squirm, and immediately broke away. The King was startled, but just stared, watching them carefully. The Queen was too enthralled with gazing at her, she hardly noticed it as strange.

The men half-stepped back the directions they had come, but the Queen kept her hands at Rapunzel's waist and shoulder, ever-ready for another hug. Her smile shined through her tears, but she could not even think to speak yet.

"Um, _hi,_ " Rapunzel giggled out while simultaneously nearly sobbing. "I- I guess the last time you saw me, I had blonde hair?" _Right? Or... I don't know ANYthing about where I came from – well, I guess I know where_ _ **I**_ _came from, but – is that different from my hair?_

The Queen nodded, trying to fight through her tears to find her voice. "Oh, my Sweetheart," she looked deep into her eyes, and squeezed her shoulder as her other hand ran down her cheek, " _Are you okay?_ " Her voice was barely a whisper; the only way she could control it.

Rapunzel gave a weak smile. Though her mind raced, she was terrified of what to actually say. Everything rode on this. _I'm fine – so much better than fine – I hope? But, she knew my hair was blonde..._ "I'm fine-" she stopped short. _What do I call her? I guess we'll figure that out later – she'll tell me at some point, I'm sure, but –_ Her hand pinched the sheared ends of her hair. "I really am- well _now,_ I am, but..."

Eugene's jaw clenched. _Did they know about it? Oh fuck they knew about it and I cut it. I stole her crown, I stole her hair, I-I..._ He swayed a bit, then squinted up towards the sun, suddenly trying to blame it, or anything really. _...help..._

"But?" the Queen urged her to continue.

"But," Rapunzel nervously glanced to the King, then back to the Queen. "I'm sorry, but my hair doesn't – anymore – I mean, once it's cut, it stops _working_." __

Eugene inhaled sharply and audibly.

The Queen and King exchanged confused, worried glances.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know if you knew, or if you knew about it turning brown an-and – I'm so sorry, but-! But he had to! And please-" 

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel," the Queen tried to regain her daughter's focus. She ran her hand through her short brown hair, long fingernails gently grazing her scalp, calming her frantic nerves. "Baby, slow down. I don't know what you're talking about."

Rapunzel blinked, trying to comprehend, as her mind flashed back, racing through doubts of her own perception. _What? I mean, my hair DID really heal – it was real! I did NOT imagine that. Eugene saw it! That really happened, I swear – BUT – do I really want to fight with her about this? I want them so badly –_

"Just, start over." The Queen glanced around to the King, then Eugene. She spoke slowly and deliberately. "We _all_ are going to have to just, _start over_."She looked back to Rapunzel. "Okay?"

Rapunzel gulped.

Eugene spaced out into a quizzical stare at the Queen. _Start over?_ He noticed his heart leap to hoping, and subsequently tried to stamp that back down.

The Queen prompted her more specifically. "What do you mean, 'working?' I mean what did your hair, um, _do?_ "

"Well," Rapunzel tried to clear her throat to speak coherently, "It's always been super long ever since I can remember. And, when I si- well, when I _would_ sing, this specific song, it would glow, and it could heal. Anything. Even aging, or- or like, a bad stab wound. But, when it's cut, it turns brown and loses its power. I- so now, it's, just..."

The Queen looked like she just put two and two together. With a gasp of realization, she turned to the King, who likewise was nodding a silent _"Ohhh..."_

Rapunzel noticed their looks. "What?"

The Queen returned her full attention to Rapunzel and rebrushed her hair. "It's alright, we'll explain everything else that we can, but, where have you..." she inhaled sharply, but tried to continue. "How–…?"

Rapunzel gave up on sniffling and dared to quickly wipe her nose with the side of her hand. "I was, um, in a tower. Forever," she chuckled. "Well, my whole life, er, at least since she brought me there- I guess- but of course I- I don't really remember anything before. Except the sun symbol must've gotten stuck in my head somehow 'cause -it was _really_ weird, hah- I- um-" Rapunzel realized she had been rapidly mumbling away. She stopped herself short suddenly, and silently looked wide-eyed at the Queen, awaiting some sort of reaction. "That symbol ended up in a lot of my paintings," she quietly finished.

The Queen finally realized the cue. "Oh, well, yes, you were barely a week old, when-" Her throat stopped her short. She painfully put on a graceful smile to cover it. With a distracting deep breath, she changed the subject. "I guess we have just as many questions as you must have. But so you two...?" She looked between Eugene and Rapunzel, absolutely beaming.

Eugene jumped. Already his mouth popped open, ready to say anything to defend himself, or blabber the whole truth. He was not sure himself which would fall out.

Rapunzel knew his fear, so she tried to distract from him. "Oh, yes!" she mimicked her mother's tone, "I- uh, _we,_ " she giggled. "He helped me escape. And- and _really,_ " she nervously laughed. "If it hadn't had been for him, I _never_ would have made it here on my own," she stressed. "Never. Eu- ah... _Youuu_ never... would believe how... _invaluable,_ and important, he's been, to me..." Thinking about how protective he had been of her over the past few days warmed her and calmed her down. "He's been absolutely wonderful," she sighed with a smile.

Eugene gulped at her blatant lies. _She didn't need me at all. And she's not saying my name – not that it matters. Once_ they _saw my face... Sweet thing thinks she can help me, aw!_ He weakly smiled at her, without realizing. On a natural inclination to help her, to be close to her, to let her off the hook; he took a step up to stand beside and a little ahead of her. Somehow, the presence and interaction of this whole family had ignited a repertoire of courage he did not know he yet had. Only once he moved his eyes from her to her parents did it hit him what he was about to do. "Your Majesties." The blood drained from his face and his head felt light again. _There's just, nothing left. I got no fight left for this._ He took a deep breath, then let it all out. "You know me as Flynn Rider. But my real name is Eugene Fitzherbert."

" _Eugene!_ " Rapunzel rocketed back to freaking out. She frantically whirled on him and grabbed his arm to tug on it. 

"Rapunzel, it's alright." He tried to wave her away.

The parents were once again shocked, watching the pair.

"I stole the crown the other day," Eugene confessed. " _Her_ crown. You know that."

"Eugene, no!" She jumped in front of him, and pounded her tiny fists on his chest. "You can't!" _He can't just give himself up that easy!_

He gently set heavy hands on her shoulders, stunning her into stopping. "Please, Rapunzel, let me do this." He offered her a small smile, but then lifted his head higher to look over her head. This allowed him to avoid looking into her red rimmed eyes, but he found that the King's eyes were not any easier. "I didn't bring her back for any kind of reward. I, ah... Heh, I wasn't expecting to still be around by the time you folks got here. But, now that you all know," he cringed, "All I can do, is ask to leave here _with my life._ " He wanted to start backing away, but his feet once again betrayed his survival instincts, as did his fear of letting go of Rapunzel.

"NO! Eug _eeene_ ," Rapunzel entwined her arms around one of his again and yanked down. "You _can't!_ "

Behind her, the Queen gently touched her elbow, and when she looked, she was offering a smile. "Darling, it's alright," she tried to quietly comfort her.

The King smirked. "We recognized you alright. But, 'your life?'" He laughed as if Eugene's entire manner was ridiculous. "Without question, yes, of course, but," then he himself turned gravely serious. "I am afraid we cannot just _simply_ let you just _leave._ "

" _Whuh...?!_ " Rapunzel gasped, the wind knocked out of her. She continued turning back to face her parents, desperately searching them for clues. _What is that supposed to mean? Why is he laughing? He says he'll live – but that can't leave. Is this gonna be good or bad?_

_So prison for life. Great._ Eugene sighed in despair, briefly, still desperately ignoring Rapunzel hanging off of him. "Your Majesty, I..." he eked out, but had nothing. He gasped and sighed, trembling, terrified, defeated, deflated. _I just want to hug you, Love..._ Instead, he pried her arms off of him. He held her hands as he pushed her away and whispered to her, "It's gonna be alright. Don't worry about me."

The King cooled his joking, growing concerned over how distraught the pair looked. "It seems my _daughter_ will have nothing about you leaving so soon, anyway."

"Um, _Eugene–_ is that right?" the Queen soothed, "You know we can never repay you for, whatever it is you've done to help Rapunzel, and to see her ho-ome," her strong mystique proved evermore difficult to maintain. " _Safely,_ " she whispered at the end.

"You don't have to thank me," Eugene automatically refused the praise.

"What are you gonna do with him..." Rapunzel quietly questioned out loud, not expecting anyone to pay any attention to her. She shook a little when suddenly everyone's eyes turned to her. "Ah-..." 

Although, as everyone paused in hesitation to answer her, the King smiled back and forth between her and Eugene. "Well, why don't we _start,_ with _lunch?_ "

The Queen rejoiced at the prospect. "Yes! We were just waiting for lunch to be ready. Won't you-? I mean, of course, _both_ of you, should come join us."

"Sounds good to me!" Eugene's nerves jumped the gun. "Lunch. Lunch sounds great! Who's hungry?" He clapped and rubbed his hands together, slowly regretting letting his mouth shoot open. His grin began to fade away, but he tried keeping the energy up. "Anyone? I know we are!"

Rapunzel calmed down at the thought of _all_ of them sharing a meal together. She smiled up at Eugene, then addressed her parents. "Lunch would be wonderful, thank you. We're _starving-!_ Well," she hesitated nervously, "Not _starving_ , but I mean- we haven't eaten since last night. Which was-! Oh, it was a huge, delicious dinner!" She ended forcing a smile. _He's taken such good care of me – they have to_ know.

The Queen's smile never faltered. She reached out to take Rapunzel's hands and walked with her arm in arm towards the door. "Oh my Baby, you can tell us all about your journey here, and then, oh! Anything you want to talk about. There's so much to tell you, so much we want to know about you – what's happened over all this time."

Rapunzel was entranced, watching her mother be so welcoming and interested in her life. But she quickly panicked and looked back to Eugene, only to find him smiling fondly at them. She weakly returned it.

Eugene sighed in unexpected contentment, glancing away as he thought, _Wow. And to think, if I had left not 5 minutes ago, I'd still be on the run... For the rest of my life._ He huffed another sigh at himself and shook his head. _Sounds absolutely exhausting._ He swung a melancholy foot out to begin following them. But as he focused his attention ahead of him, he saw the large, over-pompously dressed, older man standing almost in his way, and he stopped short, outright cringing in fright. _Eeep!_

The King's narrowed eyes stared down his nose at him warily, yet he simply grinned mysteriously before bowing at the waist ever so slightly and sidestepping, to allow him to pass ahead of him. Eugene gulped and cautiously went on.

* * *

At the dining room table, the King decidedly did not sit at the head. Instead, he and the Queen sat side by side in the center of the broad side. On the other side, Rapunzel sat across from the Queen, and Eugene across from the King.

The King had taken command of the conversation from the start. "No one would take the risk of going after something like that without already having a client; a buyer, a patron."

Rapunzel had not thought of such a reason. _Wouldn't that make it even less his fault?_ She looked to Eugene.

He looked completely unfazed by the King's grilling. His serious face gave nothing away, save for silently, respectfully, taking in all that was being conveyed to him. Not even a finger moved.

The King narrowed his eyes a twitch. "Who."

Rapunzel finally noticed a hitch in Eugene's chest.

But he decided to emphatically clear his throat. He nodded with a smirk, " _Well,_ " before resuming eye contact with the King. "You've already had the crown returned to you. And I-"

Rapunzel jumped as the King cut him off, "And its thief as well. In good faith-"

"Your Majesty, with all due respect," he dared to cut him back off, serious once more. Rapunzel bit her lip as Eugene tried to assert what he wanted to say. "I am _from_ Corona. I would _like_ to tell you what I know about who commissioned this." He laid it all out slowly. "But if I _do,_ I can never go backthere." _So pleeease keep it to anything below exile from Corona, let alone this plane of existence! I need to stay in Corona, where_ she _will be._

"Even if you consider Rapunzel your bargai-"

Eugene blinked incredulously as he realized where he was going, and so cut him off. "Rapunzel is NOT a BARGAINING CHIP." She in question jumped again as Eugene snapped in an angry voice she had not heard the likes of from him yet.

A small smile tugged at the King, as his glare changed to one of intrigue. "Too right. So you're not _exactly_ in a position to _negotiate._ "

Eugene pursed his lips. His voice was level once more. "I know."

Now the King pouted his lips in thought, nodding to the side as he idly watched his flicking of the corner of a napkin. " _Especially_ if _you're_ off the hook for this infamous heist, I need someone to go after for this."

Eugene's eyes lit up, but Rapunzel recognized how. _That's not him. He made a face like that when he was trying to trick me back to the tower._ She watched him with an open smirk and her own critical stare.

"Perfect," Eugene mused. "See that's what I ne-"

"I said _IF._ "

Eugene dropped like a lead weight back to deathly somber. _I think I just lost my appetite..._ "Your Majesty," he began more quietly, "I just need some protection here. At least-!" A hand finally twitched, wanting to reach out to plead. "At least your word that I can stay in Corona."

"What is there for you here?" the King honestly inquired.

Eugene recoiled with a sharper inhale. He slowly lowered his gaze back to the food. _Everything... and nothing._ "Well, ahhh..." He looked him back in the eye, armed with a truthful reason. " _Obviously,_ it would be safer, _for me,_ to remain _here,_ where I can be under _your_ protection, in exchange for that information."

The King's brow raised. "And how badly do you want to tip that scale of IF?"

Though allowing a slight frown, Eugene answered just as honestly. "If you can't give me that, then I'm as good as a dead man anyway."

Rapunzel looked away.

The King smiled sympathetically. "I've already trusted you, inviting you in, _not_ as a prisoner," he nodded. "But you understand we are going to need your FULL cooperation, Mr. Fitz...?"

"-herbert. Fitzherbert," then added under his breath, "Junior." _I brought your fricken long lost daughter back; of course you trusted me, cuz you're a sap like the rest of us._ "I thank you for that, obviously. And you're right," he took a deep breath. "I should trust _you_ in return. I'm just, _nervous._ "

Rapunzel was taken aback, looking back to him in shock. _But he ADMITS it?!_

 _Nervous how I'm gonna live day to day under HER as PRINCESS!_ He bit his lip and looked back down. As he continued opening up his body language, his hand resting over his forearm began fidgeting. _Fuck the knife in my boot, I can't even move my hands in case they get extra suspicious..._

The King had brought his hand up to lean on and rub his beard as he gauged him, but now lowered it as he dipped his head to offer his small concession. "I can't deny you must have some kind of smarts, and you understand the gravity of the situation. So, _I assure you,_ you have my word _._ Cooperate fully and you shall be a free man of Corona again."

His face lit back up.

Rapunzel smiled, relieved herself. _Now THAT'S Eugene._ She nearly giggled, _He looks like I just gave him a cupcake!_

"Thank you, sir," he nodded with a huge sigh of relief. "I do have _some_ idea of how politics work. I know that without an heir apparent, we've been more vulnerable, and as time went on," he glanced to the Queen sadly, "It seemed like we weren't going to have one..." He glanced to Rapunzel, then back to the open table. "And a royal baby kidnapped without a ransom? Forgive me, I know you must've heard it a thousand times, but that doesn't sound like a kidnapping. That's a murder." His direction finally settled on the King, "And you refused to name a proper heir in her stead. I figured it wouldn't be that bad. At worst it would lead to _some kind of_ change, ya know? Prompt you to finally declare someone..."

"And would have put a large sum in your hands," the King predicted, sure of it.

"Yes. It _would_ have." He did not hesitate. "Her crown is valued at fourteen million gold, just, in case you didn't know. [I know] that it was someone from Westergaards of the Southern Isles." He shrugged. "I wanted loads of money to live my own dream, and you're both prosperous kingdoms. You could afford that ransom. Or, if you chose not to, either way, I'd get paid. And besides that crown hadn't even been worn in 18 years. But now..." He smiled to Rapunzel, finally softly meeting her eyes again. "You have your original rightful heir."

Rapunzel smiled back, but once Eugene looked back to the King, she blinked fast as her smile turned fake. _'You have your original rightful heir.' But... I may not end up staying, if he-... I need to take this conversation off 'me as an heir!'_ "Um, excuse me," she winced as she addressed Eugene, but glanced back and forth between her parents. "But, what 'guards of the Southern Isles?' Where is that?"

Her parents suddenly stared at her, both bewildered how she could not have heard of such a major kingdom.

Eugene glanced back to her incredulously as well, but only momentarily before his goofy smirk opened up and he laughed. "Hahaaa, hooo-oookay. And, _now,_ time for Rapunzel's story."

Rapunzel tried to chuckle with him, through her embarrassment. "Heh, yeah, I, uh... _wasn't kidding_ when I said I'd been in that tower _forever!_ " She clammed up when no one else found it amusing.

Eugene kept a firm lead on the story this time, almost never noticing whenever Rapunzel wanted to talk. Her signs that she wanted to were small ones anyway; just a twinkle in her eye, a raised brow, or silently parting her mouth, waiting and watching for an opening before she spoke. He saw them all, despite keeping his eyes off her. When she did get a word in, he cut her off as quickly and excitedly as he could. Each time he continued to pass her over, not only did her eyes, expression, shoulders, and hands fall, but so did her spirit. Through it all, though, he remained pleasantly polite otherwise. Rapunzel did her best to maintain a graceful smile and look. It worked on her parents, but not on him. Eugene hid it all, even his regret for doing so. She soon realized why, but she did not like it. He was downplaying any danger she was ever in, and omitting any trace of romance.

Rapunzel watched as Eugene kicked back his skinny glass, with something yellow and bubbly in it, while he was happily grinning.

The story and its tangents lasted almost the remainder of the meal. Every so often, Rapunzel would get to talk about her life in the tower, as there was little else for her to pull from, but she trailed off to end each detail nervously, trying not to upset anyone. Their expressions gave her the feeling that they did not find stories from the tower as cheery as she did. Desperate to find something remotely positive to talk about, she fell back on the subject of the floating lights. "Sooo, anyway," she brushed off her previous failed attempts at relatable conversation, "What made you guys choose flying lanterns?" She grinned at how her curiosity was able to successfully bloom into words that sparked intrigue on their faces, rather than gloom. Rapunzel poked and munched on her salad, as her appetite had been coming and going throughout the meal. With Eugene's safety settled, and a minor conversation victory, it had finally picked up.

"Well," the Queen began, "After I married your father, ah, I did some traveling and I met a-"

"LUNCH?!" Suddenly the Captain's voice boomed from beyond another set of doors, behind Rapunzel and Eugene.

"But sir-!" Another higher-pitched, nasally guard called out, too late.

The Captain, now in full armored uniform, burst through the set of double doors, each slamming into the wall behind them. The chandelier tinkled and the glasses clinked with the china. "WHERE IS HE?!" His voice bellowed throughout the room. They all glanced at him, but hardly anything could rattle the family's nerves in their newfound serenity.

The other guard's lanky arms could be seen grabbing for him, futilely, as he just barely reached to peer over his shoulder. "Ahhh, you should know that-" He shrunk back, frightfully choosing to remain in the hallway. "Eh, nevermind..."

The Captain froze in horror at the scene he saw in the dining room: the distinct back-quarter-profile of the longtime thorn in his pride- his number one target, and the growing nuisance of a young woman in pink at his side. Both were within an arm's reach of his Lieges; mere _inches_. Like the mythical low-hanging fruit and water of Tantalus, how he had chased them, only for them to ever elude his final grasp. Now that he was so close, he dared not take another step, fearful to learn the true nature of this situation.

Eugene calmly finished a drink from his goblet and gently placed it back down, before licking his lips and finally turning in his seat. Rapunzel watched him, and then turned in her own seat to settle in to watch the disturbance play out. The King and Queen looked to their head of defense to see what he had to say, if anything. Everyone stared expectantly at the Captain, who merely blinked wild-eyed between the younger couple, with his jaw on the floor. Rapunzel blindly popped another grape into her mouth. Eugene sucked anything out of his front teeth behind his lips, then flashed an uncertain smile.

 _Ohhh,_ Rapunzel thought upon remembering her most recent encounter with the Captain. _THIS is going to be funnnnn-ny!_

"Um," Eugene cleared his throat and threw an arm over the back of his chair. "Uh, good afternoon, Captain, Sir." He purposely kept his tone meek and polite.

"'Good After-?!'" The Captain raged back, but lost his capacity for speech as his voice devolved into grunting, before abruptly recovering and marching forward. "Your Majesty, if not a hostage situation, then WHAT, on God's green Earth, is the _meaning_ of this?! _Flynn Rider_ himself there, STOLE the CROWN, _-AND my HORSE-_ and then SHE has been terrorizing the entire city!"

The King and Queen blinked back and forth between everyone as they spoke...

Eugene quickly turned back to the King. The smile he brought forth was now embarrassed. "Uhhh, may I just add on my apologies in advance for all of the trouble we had in getting here?"

"Well, really, it was Max's decision," Rapunzel added with a indecisive shrug.

"Ah-" Eugene raised a finger along with his fork, but realized what she had said. "Truuue," he pointed to her instead and smirked with one eye squinted. Back to the King, he resumed his smooth salesman smile again. "May I rescind those latest apologies?"

She leaned over and pinched Eugene's sleeve as he took another sip of water. She whispered to him, " _I think Max and I rode right through that man's house..._ "

Eugene nearly spit; luckily it merely spurted bubbles in his drink.

The Captain had been boiling over, waiting for an explanation, but only getting further enraged by being ignored. "You're a dead man, Rider!" he shouted, still red in the face. "And who is this girl!"

"Captain!" the Queen finally cried out indignantly. "The young man's presence may understandably confuse you, but THIS is _no way_ to at long last greet your Princess!"

The Captain's rage deflated like a balloon. His mouth fell open to speak, but he ended up just staring at Rapunzel, speechless.

Eugene snorted under his breath and whispered back to her from behind his hand, " _This is hardly sportsmanlike, Blondie._ " He wiggled in his seat, enjoying the show nonetheless.

Rapunzel smiled cheerfully, but carefully, at the Captain, and waved. "Hi there!" she giggled, trying to laugh off her awkwardness.

"Captain." The King finally spoke up. "It seems your Flynn Rider here is actually quite a brave lad, ah, one _actually_ by the name of Eugene Fitzherbert."

The Captain still stared at the King in confusion, awaiting more explanation than that.

"He escaped yesterday," he went on, "With the _help_ of Maximus, to rescue a young lady he'd met." He held his hand out to present her. "Our precious Rapunzel."

Rapunzel blushed at her father's pride in her, then addressed the Captain herself. The man had at least relaxed a little. "We first met at the dam, kind of, uh- _sir._ My hair was still really long and blonde then." She ran her fingers through it and dragged it out the side of her head to emphasize its new severe lack of length. "Oh! But please don't be mad at Maximus. He's been a real sweetheart and he helped us get back here safely." She fell somber, hoping her words would sink in. "And if it hadn't had been for Eugene, well..." _I would have gone alone anyway, but it wouldn't have been a fraction as great..._ "Well I don't know where I'd be." She turned to smile at him and rested her hand on his shoulder. Surely that would send only the right messages.

Eugene could not help but beam back at her, losing his own restraint in how he looked at her. _You're amazing..._

"Captain," the King picked up again, pointing with his fork, "You and I need to have a little chat with Mr. Fitzherbert here. After we've finished eating of course."

"'A little chat?'" Eugene squeaked.

The Captain smirked smugly, yet uncomfortably. "Yes, Sire."

"I'll be with you shortly to brief you," he still addressed the Captain, but then turned to Eugene. "Then we shall call on _you_ when ready."

Eugene gulped.

The King brushed his beard out and wiped his mouth with his napkin. He narrowed his eyes on Eugene and grinned. "DON'T go anywhere," he said, then chuckled as he tossed his napkin down and rose. "Come Captain. It's a rather fun story, I assure you. Ooh, and you're in it!" He hooked his poof-adorned arm around the Captain's hard shoulders as they walked out. Eugene and the Captain shared one last incredulous look of suspicion, before the doors closed behind the two men of state.

Once they were gone, Eugene slunk down in his seat. "Ugh." He ran his hands down his face and his entire demeanor fell into self-pity. "Think I'm DONE eating." Rapunzel touched his arm in concern.

"Hm," the Queen hummed an aloof smile. "Would you two like to hear the story of how Rapunzel was born?"

Their interests piqued at her, happy to give her distraction their full attention.

* * *

Eugene eventually found himself being ushered through the halls, the King in front of him and the Captain in back. Finally, the King held open a door for Eugene to enter in before him.

He stepped inside to see a mostly empty room, brightly lit but with no windows, and a single, decadent, plush chair in the middle facing a small writing desk quite a few feet from it. A slim, unassuming man sat at the desk in an identical chair, and two more flanked either side of the desk. Eugene whirled around, defensive. "What is this?"

"This is a sitting room," the King answered coldly. "Which I'm sure you'll notice is decidedly _not_ located in the prison."

"What-..."

The King pointedly looked to the secretary, who was testing out his ink in the corner of a page, then to the lone chair in the center.

Eugene followed his gaze, and understood. "Interrogation..." he voiced out loud.

"You agreed to cooperate."

He sighed. "I did. I will." Obedient yet awkward, he flumped down into the seat. He tried to get comfortable, only to settle on leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands folded.

The Captain had followed the King a few steps, but then nabbed his arm momentarily. "Sire," he muttered in flat monotone, " _Illus veris regni maximus fur est; Et non credatur._ "

Eugene's ears involuntarily pricked as the words' meanings clicked in his mind, waking a dormant part of his brain. Three of the words that caught his attention first were ones that always brought a prideful smirk to his face, which they did now, without a thought as to further incrimination. _Regni Maximus Fur – The Kingdom's Greatest Thief._ His tongue rolled around in thought, remembering the old conjugations. _'Do not trust him.'_ He noticed too late that the King had not responded.

Both men were staring at him, intently.

Eugene cleared his throat and looked away. _Shit, shit, shit... Don't take this card from me, too!_

"Eugene?" the King questioned, with an air of hoping to give him a chance to be honest, while also sounding cautionary as to if he did not.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Eugene looked back to the King, but locked his eyes only on the man's golden sun emblem pendant.

The King ambled around him and took a seat beside the desk. The Captain opted to stand at attention, arms crossed over his chest, in front of the door; the only door. He had a clear view the scene before him: Eugene squirming to his left, and the King to his right, ready to put him through the wringer.

The King settled his own set of note paper and pen in front of him. "Shall we begin?"

Eugene took a deep breath and nodded.

"Full name? Again, please, for the record."

"Eugene Fitzherbert, Junior."

"Fitz-?" the secretary now asked.

"-herbert."

"Forgive me, but of Lord... Who?"

Eugene groaned. "No, not me. Back farther than I know. And _Junior_ ; I said _Junior._ " He dipped his head to hide his rolling eyes and slouched farther in frustration.

"Ah," the man said, and wrote on in a tinier, quicker, scribble.

"Date of birth?" the King asked next.

"September 29th."

"House Loyalty?"

"Corona. My parents had been, at least."

"And uh," he tried to sound as sensitive as possible. "Your... family?"

"My parents are dead, and I never had any siblings. Never-" _married._ A lump caught in his throat; he cleared it. "And I have no children or anything."

"So, where did you grow up?"

"In uhh..." he gulped and switched direction, "I was an orphan. My parents were both dead by the time I was 8."

The King clasped his hands together beside his face, elbows on the table, and lowered his head as his gaze turned just a little harder. "Where did you _live?_ "

"Co-" he began, but his voice cracked. "Corona."

"And sooo, as a citizen of Corona, _quod absolute in officium meum exequi te proditione._ "

Eugene's breath caught and eyes dilated, the corners of his mouth pulled down into a pout. _'...absolutely in my office,' execute- to execute_ you _'... ablative cause for- 'treason.'_ He met the King's stern eyes with his own pleading ones, defeated on both fronts, with one stone. _I hear you, I hear you... Knowledge for my life._ He felt silly for worrying about a thing this small, but he still felt awful. _Well, now they know._

"Eugene," he began again, in a gravely low voice. " _Dice. Ubi habitavisti?_ "

Eugene gulped again and hung his head a moment. _'Speak,' a command. 'Where you live...d?'_ He made sure to look the King in the eye as he started to answer. "Hab- Habita... bas... Habita _veram_." His gaze honestly drifted away as he tried to dredge up such an old part of himself. "In Brephotrophium Innocentium* Coronae habitaveram." He bit his quivering lip as he winced at the King. _You remember that, don't you?_

 _[*Latin for Ospedale delgi Innocenti, 'Hospital of the Innocents.']_

As Eugene had expected, there was a startling recognition on the old man's face, but it was quickly reigned in. "Ubi gnoscabas."

 _'Where learning... you studied.'_ Eugene's lids drooped slowly. He closed them as he nodded, then simply stared off into the floor. "Yes- _etiam._ " he mumbled before licking his lips. "I ran away when I was 16."

The King paused, studying the young man's expressions and body language. He seemed to be telling the truth about everything. The reluctance and sadness in doing so made sense in line with someone who was making a conscious effort to comply, while every other fiber of his being was used to running and hiding. The King could not pick out any other easy signs of deceit versus honesty, but he did notice how Eugene kept rubbing the palm of his left hand.

"Your Majesty?" The Captain called over, noticing how the King had fallen contemplative.

The King cleared his throat. "Uh, how old did you say you are now?"

"26."

He rubbed his beard in thought. "How old were you when my daughter was kidnapped?"

Eugene's brow retwisted, quizzically. _...you think_ I _took her? Or helped? What?_ "I was _8..._ " he said slowly. _Or just checking my math?_

"You said your parents were dead by the time you were 8," the King recalled out loud.

Eugene nodded. "Ye-"

"So you were already at the orphanage then?"

"Yes, Sire."

"So, you..." The King stroked his beard, unsure how to word the question, and how leading it should be or not. "Eh..." He rolled his hand around.

Eugene saw the opportunity. _He already knows._ Now it could look like he was eagerly offering up information. "Sire, I don't have many meaningful memories from that time, but I do remember when Her Majesty would come visit, if that's what you are trying to ask."

The King watched him steadily, then set his inferences aside and instead went onto the next thing. "Eugene, your theft of the Crown of the Lost Princess was a crime against this crown, in favor of another. Correct?"

Eugene physically jerked at the derailing question, and paused before answering. _I got nothin._ "Yes, that's correct." _A 'crime against the crown' means death – but he gave me his word!_ A gulp and a twitch of his neck steeled his nerves for the time being.

"And _why_ did you steal the crown?"

"Uh..." _I thought we went over this already, and besides weren't we talking about my childhood? I mean, I don't know why, but, well, anyway._ "Forrr... monnn _eyyy...?_ " His voice crescendoed to a squeaky pitch at the end.

"Why?" he immediately pressed. "You had a good education. What happened- Did something happen _to_ you?"

"Uh, no-" he began, startled at the concern. "No, no..." _That's just it, though-_ "Nothinghappened."

"Then why not make something of yourself without having to live on the run? Why turn to thieving?"

"I- uh..." he stuttered and false-started quite a bit before finally just regretfully shrugging. "I don't have an _excuse,_ I know that. I guess I just, it just seemed like the more romantic life. Ya know, adventurous, and all... I thought it was my only real chance of actually making the life I wanted for myself. Can't really _do_ anything with education unless you've got connections. I had no parents to set up an apprenticeship or to take over their trade... 'Nd I had to stop dreaming that _someday, someone_ would wanna bother with me- with adopting me. A teenaged boy. Ya know?" He startled himself with so casually dropping the word "dreaming." _I've started dreaming again... And it's only gonna hurt again..._ He became aware of holding his left palm, and instead clenched it shut and wrapped his right entirely around the fist.

The King listened on thoughtfully, as did the Captain, though he tried to make it seem he was not listening. The King nodded along sympathetically with Eugene's rambling. "Well," he began, "We'll see what we can do about all that- what we can do with that education." Then he abruptly got down to the point. "Now, we need to know HOW you broke into this castle and stole the crown. You mentioned over lunch that you were commissioned? Tell us about that. Who did you steal the crown for? And remember, IF you cooperate fully, you'll earn your freedom."

Eugene sighed at the King's ignorance. "I wasn't commissioned directly. This guild I was checking out for 'jobs,' had someone looking to hire a thief to nab the crown. That was about a month ago- May 20th. And the whole point of the guild is so that _I_ don't know who the real patron is, and ideally, _the patron_ doesn't know who _I_ am. Obviously, I don't know if _they've_ I.D.'ed _me_ , but I guess that depends on their spies and how much information _you've_ made public."

The Captain's grainy voice took over. "Well, I heard you couldn't wipe the idiot grin off your face _as_ you were _stealing_ it. You made it seem like you _wanted_ people to know it was you."

Eugene sneered an mocking face at him, but otherwise ignored his comment. _Well, that's true, but shut up._

"All these other people," the King tried to both follow the exposition and keep it on task, "The guild and all, _what, eeelse_ can you tell us about them?"

"Eh," he false-started again, then tweaked a look at him. "I agreed to tell you about _this_ job..." _Please don't push me to dispel people I barely know- who are not involved in this!_

The King grinned, showing deep cheeks and dimples just like Rapunzel's. He bowed his head, "Fair enough, for now. Honor amongst thieves, ey?"

"More like guidelines of reciprocity," he reciprocated the friendly smile, relieved that he understood.

"Understood. But do you know who the go-between was between this guild and the, uh, alleged _patron?_ "

"No, I didn't need _his_ name or anything. He would have been a representative acting in the stead of one of the princes or whoever, to interact with the guild." Pride took over his face. "Again, not supposed to know who that was, but, little bit of business insurance, my guy tailed their guy. Said he saw him go in through a secret entrance to the royal family's quarters. Is he still writing all this down?" He pointed at the secretary.

"Ya got all that?" the Captain checked.

The secretary was scribbling away furiously, but nodded along nonetheless. The King pointed out to him which royal family allegedly in question.

"On your end," Eugene half-frowned as he forged ahead, "There must have also been someone in contact with your architects or someone for schematics. I always try to get some kind of layout of places I'm going into, and..." He sucked air in through his teeth loudly. "For here, this map was _extensive._ And obviously reliable. One of your guys probably sold a copy off, maybe looking for a cut of this, too."

The Captain perked up at this information. "You have _a map?_ "

"I _did._ If it matters, someone had nicknamed it 'Glass Castle.' Anyway, I trashed it on the way over here the first time. So, no, Captain Awesome, don't worry. You didn't miss anything in my satchel." _-oh shit, can I get that back?! Where is it?! I need to get that back!_

The Captain ignored the sarcastic title and called over, "Your Majesty, we should check that out as soon as possible." The King nodded in agreement.

"By the way," Eugene addressed the Captain directly, "That crown is valued at fourteen million gold, in case you didn't know, or maybe you just forgot." Whether the King had briefed him on that specifically or not, he wanted to drive that point home.

The Captain frowned, but Eugene could not tell if it was in hostility, or just his natural resting face. "And what was gonna be yours and the Stabbingtons' cut?"

"Oh, _please._ " Eugene snickered. " _Our_ cut?" He laughed a little more fully. "Didn't you- ehh... I left the brothers at that little cliffside for you." Again, his tone turned cocky and fanciful. "My _cut_ could've possibly been whatever I could _personally_ negotiate with the Westergaards' representative. Considering they wanted fourteen million ransom from you, I could probably have gotten at least seven, maybe _Ten. Million. Gold._ "

The King smiled sentimentally at Eugene, as he was busy smirking at the Captain, who was busy glaring him down. "Anything else, Eugene?"

* * *

The Queen had taken Rapunzel for a walk around the castle, both as a tour, and to start to get to know each other at last. Both had some awkwardness in conversation to get over, but there was an unspoken comfort between them. Rapunzel felt more and more welcome to talk about absolutely everything, though she still held herself back from doing so. She decided to go as far as to give the impression that Eugene had become a very good, _platonic_ , friend of hers. The Queen shied away from verbally broaching the idea of romance, but her grin positively glowed whenever her newfound daughter touched upon her newfound "friend."

The castle seemed to go on forever, but the Queen always knew the way. With her real mother by her side, even a building of so much strange grandeur felt like home already. And somehow, despite its endless mazes, the Queen timed it perfectly for them to arrive back at this one sitting room just as the door was opening.

The Captain came walking out first and noticed the ladies. "Oh, Your Majesty," he greeted pleasantly. His greeting to Rapunzel was more hesitant and awkward. "And, uh, Your- Your Royal Highness." He joined the Queen's side, anticipating a gathering in the hall. Rapunzel, however, stepped forward eagerly.

Eugene unwittingly followed the Captain, not registering the pair until Rapunzel popped up in his face. "Ah- Blondie!" He froze in his tracks with his hands thrown up. _Oh God not again._

She giggled with her impish grin again. "So, how did everything go?" she asked to both Eugene and her father, who was just joining them as well. However, she and Eugene caught her father giving her mother a tilted, ambiguous look accompanied by a one-shouldered shrug. Her mother smirked but did not seem convinced of whatever he was trying to convey. "Uh, _Daaad?_ " Her smile faltered.

The King conceded to his wife and finally faced Rapunzel. "Everything is fine," he assured her nonchalantly.

Eugene visibly relaxed to a great degree, but he kept his eyes on the Captain standing across from him. Rapunzel could tell he was still coiled as tightly as when they had arrived. "Yup, yup," he gave her only a glance, "Perfectly good." _Goddamnit._

"Well that's good," Rapunzel tried to put on a smile as she tested placing a hand on his upper arm.

 _Please stop..._ Eugene crossed his hands behind his back and his voice jumped to redirect the tension. "So! Your Majesty, now what?"

She noticed his holding back again, but turned her attention to her father as well to see what was next indeed.

The King deliberately gave Eugene a calculating smirk. "To the Head Architect."

"That's the guy who should know about the map leak," Eugene reiterated.

"Thanks, genius," the Captain quipped. "Just saved us a lot of investigative work there."

Eugene narrowed his eyes at him. "Wow, _sarcasm,_ " he hissed as he planted his hands on his waist, shirking Rapunzel's arm off, and shifted his weight to one leg. He further challenged him with a roll of his eyes, "What a _great way_ to start off working _together,_ huh?"

Rapunzel wound herself up, ready to spring. "You're doing an investigation?! Together?!" she exclaimed. "About the guy who originally commissioned stealing the crown, right?! That sounds so interesting!" She finally bubbled over squealing, and waved her fists around a little up in front of her chest. "Like solving a mystery, right? Can I come, too? Can I help?"

Eugene jerked his head to watch as her antics commanded his attention. He huffed an admiring chuckle as he laid dreamy eyes and a soft smirk on her. He could almost feel himself splitting in two again. But this time, Eugene had gotten stronger and harder for Flynn to control. And yet, he wanted so badly to say _Sure, Blondie,_ but his mouth stayed shut. _-No, Blondie, don't screw this up for me!_

"No, Sweetheart," the King cooed, "You don't have to worry about this."

Eugene watched through Rapunzel's big green eyes as a piece of her freshly tender heart began to fracture. Automatically he turned back to the King. "No, she can come if she wants."

The King was speechless. "Ah- bwha- _what?_ "

Rapunzel lit back up and hugged Eugene's arm again. "Thanks!"

Eugene strategically, desperately, ignored how his bicep was smushed between her breasts, however brief the moment was. "Yah, hokay. Let's just go then." He gingerly reclaimed his arm to hold behind his back again. He did not seem happy about the new party plan, but he was not about to let someone tell her what to do.

Rapunzel's hope had been replenished just enough. "Yeah! I mean, Eugene already knows how good I can be at solving puzzles, but I can't wait to see what this is gonna be!" _I'll take what I can get!_ She beamed as she walked beside even a distant Eugene, following the King, and flanked by the watchful Captain.

* * *

"Wooow," Eugene drawled out, raising a finger towards the Captain's nose in a painting on the lower level hallway wall. "Even got every wrinkle!" _Same guy who did my Wanted posters, probably, the talentless hack._ He chuckled to himself, then turned back around to seek the King's approval of his ribbing, only to find an unamused frown. The mirth died out in his voice as he noticed how close the Captain had gotten. 

The burly man was fuming again. "I can hear you."

"Twinkle," he slyly corrected himself as he gulped, "In his eye."

The Captain growled and pushed his red, gnarled face dangerously close to Eugene's.

"Eyes!" he corrected further, nervously throwing his hands up and leaning away.

The Captain punctuated himself with a snort, and resumed his position as the group filed into an office.

"Ah, what good timing, My King. It seems we have a situation," the apparent Head Architect came right out and said to the King and Captain as they all gathered around the man's worktable. He looked over the two new faces quizzically, but did not question.

Eugene, hoping not to draw attention to himself, seemed to take little notice of the man. Instead, he tried reading what he could off of the scattered papers around. Mostly it seemed to be maintenance orders, though, and quickly his eyes glossed over, instantly bored.

Rapunzel however, looked him over intently fascinated. He stood about Eugene's height and build, but with a sharper cut jaw, which was shaded by his close-trimmed full-styled beard. His short, dark brown hair was combed back, though it swirled around a flattened curve atop the front as it did so. The beginnings of slight recession swept around each side; the back tapered off at the base of his head. His warm glowing cheekbones and full ribboned lips signaled amiability, but his unflinching gaze and stern brows warded off any attempts of it. Given Eugene's age for a marker, she would guess his age around 30, but he already had puffy bags under his eyes and a couple permanent creases across his forehead.

His voice was a deep authoritative one, with a thick and strange, yet stoic, accent. "One of our masons has gone missing. We've not seen nor heard from him in two days time." He slid over a larger parchment, with pencil sketching of a man, and lettering which, at the top, decried "Missing." It was the layout plan before it would be etched into rubber for printing. "His wife begged us to have copies made and spread."

Eugene had been hanging back, while still trying to peak over and between the King's and Captain's shoulders as they shuffled around. Suddenly, something caught his eye. "No way..." He easily elbowed his way to the table and picked up the "Missing" paper.

Rapunzel perked up as she watched him. "Do you know him?"

Eugene bit the side of his lip as he looked away, the paper lying limply in his hands. "Yeah," he nodded a little. With a deep breath, he continued. "He was at the orphanage, he taught classes at the monastery."

The Head Architect's eyes blinked in surprise. His eyes continued honing in as he listened.

"Your teacher also worked as a mason here?" Rapunzel asked. She peeped over at the paper he held. _George Fleming._ She tried to commit yet another new name to memory.

"I guess; he taught math," Eugene answered, then posed his own question to the architect. "Is that right?"

The Captain smirked with pleasure as he stared at Eugene and his spilling of info.

The Head Architect eyed him narrowly now. "That is correct... Mr. Fleming used to tutor at a few places around the kingdom."

 _And we're here looking for who could have leaked a map out..._ Rapunzel remembered the brief amount of information she had overheard. She thought of another suggestion to contribute, and spoke right up. "Do we know what kind of information he could have gotten access to while working here?"

Eugene's impressed attention snapped to her as he carefully considered what she said.

The architect sighed and tilted his head in worry. "He's handled many sensitive projects for us over the years. But any leak could _still_ prove to be _truly_ devastating."

The King hardened his eyes at the architect in thought; Eugene gulped as he felt the gravity in the room bear down.

Rapunzel, however, leaned over the table, beaming. "How can we help?"

The King finally addressed Eugene. "Actually, I'd like your help in finding and detaining him, Eugene."

Eugene blinked, completely blindsided by the extent of this new proposal. "Wait, me?" He pulled a hand out to point at himself. "You wanna send _me,_ t-to- to _what?_ "

"Fleming was once your teacher," the King explained, "If we find him, you can bring him in."

"Look, I-I..." Eugene stammered to gracefully decline. "I really don't think I'm your go-to guy on this part." He took a step backward, recrossing his arms.

"Your knowledge of this Mr. Fleming and the heist is key here!" an all too eager Rapunzel pointed out.

"We're clearly at a disadvantage for any attempt to engage with him," the Captain reluctantly admitted. "Anyone being questioned is bound to get suspicious – and they already have _all_ been questioned, when we were looking for _you_. _You_ , however, have a personal, unrelated connection. "

"Yeah, I _do_ have a personal connection," Eugene snapped back, "If this is the guy, though, I have another, very _bad_ personal connection. Look, you guys have the crown, okay? And _I'm_ right _here._ So can't you just-"

"Excuse me," the Head Architect tried to intercept the conversation. "Who is this?" he pointed an unsure finger out.

" _Eugene._ " the King ignored the question, but instead glowered down at Eugene and said his name to him in a firm bellow.

 _I don't have any choice in this, do I? I'm in no matter what..._ Eugene rubbed his palms together, anxious to please but nervous to risk himself any further. "Well maybe you can find someone else to help you for this part. Maybe, a coworker- just this part. I can't- I'm not supposed to know who-"

The Captain picked up the slack with snideness. "Or maybe _you_ had something to do with his ' _disappearance,'_ too."

"What?!" Rapunzel and Eugene both gasped.

"Are you crazy?!" Eugene continued on, "I'm not gonna have some poor mapmaker _rubbed out_ just 'cause I got ONE thing offa him for a job!"

"Structural engineer," the Head Architect corrected, though he looked more concerned about the rest of his words.

"So what _would_ you have a guy _rubbed out_ for?" the Captain snarked.

" _Oooh,_ " Eugene glared at him, stepped up and wagged a finger. " _Ya knowww..._ " he growled lowly himself, before Rapunzel pulled him back with a most concerned look. Around the corner of the table, the Captain took a step up towards him as well with a sadistic smile. Chairs shifted across the stone floor as the two men postured, adding to the disturbance. The King gripped the Captain's shoulder. He stood down.

Above the noisy turmoil, the Head Architect added a shout, "Who IS this man?!"

"Oookay," Rapunzel force-laughed it all off. "Ummm..."

Eugene regained his restraint and calmed down. He answered the architect before anyone else could have a chance, "I'm nobody." Then he stared down both the King and the Captain. He shot a steady glance back at Rapunzel. In a tryhard bout of ambition, his mouth spoke before he could check it. "You in?"

Rapunzel's eyes took on a happy glow again, and a genuine grin returned. "You bet!"

Eugene returned a cocky determined smirk back to the Captain and King, mirrored by a cheerier version on Rapunzel beside him.

The Captain took a deep breath and resolved himself back to friendly coercion. Between gritted teeth, he reiterated, "Yours is a friendly face, Rider. Your teach sees his old class clown, he'll be _bound_ to remember _you_ , and more inclined to cooperate with you interrogating him. Capisci?"

The Head Architect's confused expression was instantly sent into slight shock at the name drop. His mouth parted and he froze, staring at Eugene.

"ME?! _Interrogate_ him, _too?!_ Oh, Come On!" Eugene flailed. "And, excuse you, I was _not_ the class clown!" _I was the one who looked like I wasn't paying attention 'cause I was either reading my own thing or daydreaming..._

"Search party leaves in three. Main courtyard." And with that, the Captain left.

Rapunzel gently placed a hand on Eugene's arm, startling him. " _I'm really proud of you,_ " she whispered softly to him. Eugene huffed a weak smile at her. The King smirked delightfully at them both.

She turned to the Head Architect. "By the way, um, hi! Nice to meet you." She stiffly held her hand out to shake. He quirked a brow as he watched her, but awkwardly shook it anyway. "My name is Rapunzel. And I guess, up until today, I was the Lost Princess."

The man's hand fell away from her. His lips parted again, and a shudder ran over him. Dumbfounded, he softly replied, "Bran."

* * *

 **A/N:** Holy hell I'll proofread for typos, etc. tomorrow. I am profusely sorry for the wait, but I love you all for the ongoing support. Jan 16 starts the new semester, at a brand new college in a brand new city. A lot has happened. A lot is going to happen. Please don't expect me back until summer. Classes end mid-May, then who knows what. Send me reviews to help me through my first day? (It wasn't too much Chuck, was it? Cuz even if it was I mean I can't really do anything about it now I guess.)

If you didn't watch Tangled: The Series, first off what are you doing with your life, beware of spoilers on my tumblr, and get thee to a streaming or download site! Or message me somewhere. And as always...

Follow me as MiraNova23 on tumblr for Tangled Fandom Resurrection, messaging, keeping up with what's goin on in my life, how the writing's going, my other fanworks, lots of Chuck vs Tangled, and all-around general Disnerdiness.


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